Have you heard French speakers use both oui and si and it has you confused? This is the post for you!

Today we’ll go over how to say yes in various contexts, including formal French, slang French, and in response to both affirmative and negative statements. We’ll also go over how to say no in French.

French Yes

Yes, in French, is the well-known oui.

What is most common in informal conversations is the slang word ouais, which translates best as yeah. Some older, proper, more traditional French speakers may frown upon the sound and slang, but it is common absolutely everywhere from professional to the most informal settings.

Mouais is used to say so-so. So it’s also a bit of a tentative yes in French, but not a whole-hearted one.

For words in the place of oui in French, one might say carrément or grave, both of which loosely translate to totally.

• Oui, j’aime les courgettes. – Yes, I love zucchini.

• Ouais, grave, je kiffe les courgettes. – Yeah, totally, I dig zucchini.

• Les courgettes, carrément, j’adore ça. – Zucchini, for sure, I love it.

There are many other expressions for answering in the affirmative. A very common one is bien sûr, meaning of course, while a similar option is c’est clair, meaning clearly. Both are used for an obvious and resounding yes in French.

Si in French: In response to a negation

Language learners often hear si used as yes in Spanish. In fact, si is also one form of yes in French. If you’re familiar with German, the French si is comparable to doch. But when do we use si vs oui in French?

Si is used as yes in response to a negation. In other words, if the question is in the negative but our answer is in the affirmative, we use si in French instead of oui. We can recognize such negative sentences in French because the conjugated verb is normally sandwiched between ne and pas.

Let’s see some comparative examples where we demonstrate both oui and si in French. In addition to our two French yes words, we also highlight the negations.

• Do you have change? / Yes, I do. – As-tu de la monnaie? / Oui, j’en ai.

• You don’t have change, by any chance? / Yes, I do. – Tu n’as pas de monnaie par hasard? / Si, j’en ai.

When choosing between si and oui in French, remember that it depends on the question or statement we’re responding to. If the statement was in the affirmative, stick to oui; if was in the negative, use si to give an affirmative response.

• Are you hungry? / Yes, I am hungry. – As-tu faim? / Oui, j’ai faim.

• You’re not hungry anymore? / Yes, I am still hungry. – Tu n’as plus faim? / Si, j’ai encore faim.

• He’s an idiot. / Yes, he is. – C’est un idiot. / Oui, c’est un idiot.

• He’s not dumb. / Yes, he is. – Il n’est pas bête. / Si, il est bête.

Finally, let’s note that the French si is sometimes considered to be an emphatic yes, since it really stresses the affirmative sentiment being expressed. Often this emphasis is underlined by adding mais, meaning but: mais si!

We’ll leave you with a few more examples to demonstrate this aspect of the French si, where our English translations are much more emphatic than a simple yes.

• I get the impression that you don’t love me anymore. / Of course I do! I love you more than you know! – J’ai l’impression que tu ne m’aime plus. / Mais si, je t’adore plus que tu sais !

• Are you sure you packed our passports? / Of course! I already told you I have them. – T’es sûr que t’as pris nos passeports ? / Mais si ! Je te l’ai déjà dit que je les ai.

• I thought you didn’t want to go to EuroDisney. / Yeessss! I want to! – J’ai pensé que tu ne voulais pas aller à EuroDisney. / Siiii ! Je veux !

No in French

No in French is non. The pronunciation is similar to the English no, but slightly shorter and with a nasal ending.

The slang option for no in French is nan, as a counterpart to ouais that we saw above as a slang oui. The English comparison is basically naw or nah. The slight spelling change simply reflects the altered pronunciation of non.

A very informal way to say no in French is c’est mort, which translates literally to it’s dead. This response is suitable when there’s very little likelihood that a proposition could happen. Another English equivalent is not a chance.

• Are you on the train already? / No, I’m still at the station. – Es-tu déjà sur le train ? / Non, je suis toujours à la gare.

• What happened? Did you get there on time? / Nah, I forgot to set my alarm last night and woke up late. – Qu’est-ce qui s’est passé ? Tu y es arrivé à l’heure ? / Nan, j’ai oublié de mettre l’alarme hier soir, puis je me suis lévé trop tard.

• Well, do you think you’ll get here in time for lunch? / Not a chance. The next train doesn’t leave for two more hours. – Alors, penses-tu que tu arriveras à temps pour le déjeuner? / C’est mort. Le prochain train part dans plus de deux heures.

Conclusion: Yes and No in French

Today we focused on the absolute basics, examining the different ways to say yes and no in French. The straightforward translations are simply oui and non, but we also saw a couple of informal options for each one.

Our other main focus in today’s post was on the French si, meaning yes in response to a negative statement or question. Through all our examples, you should now know when to use oui or si when saying yes in French.

We know that a post on how to say yes and no in French may seem even easier than other beginner topics like hello, goodbye, excuse me, and thank you, but there were enough nuances in the different options for each term that we still had a lot to cover. Through everything we’ve seen today, hopefully you feel comfortable saying that carrément, je sais dire oui et non en français!