What's the difference between いいえ and English's "no"?


In "Japanese for Busy People I" page 2 (kana or romaji edition) it says that
いいえ is 'virtually the same as "no"'.

It sounds like there are some differences, but they want to omit mentioning
them for the time being. What differences are there?




The key to whether to reply with はい or いいえ is not whether the _form_ of the
question is positive or negative, but whether the question is asked in a way
which expects a positive or a negative answer:

> 一緒に行きませんか？(expects a positive answer)  
>  はい、是非一緒に行きましょう。
>
> 一緒に行かないんですか？(expects a negative answer)  
>  はい、残念ながら行けません。

I guess this response could be regarded as cyclic, since the obvious next
question would be when a question expects a positive or a negative answer.
Usually positive forms expect positive answers and negative forms expect
negative answers. The tricky ones are the simple negative-form+か (without んです
or のです), which are often used for invitations, or to ask for agreement. An
example of an invitation is given above. Below is an example of asking for
agreement.

> これ、おかしくありませんか？  
>  はい、そうですね。おかしいですね。

Returning to いいえ, I would say that in practise, it's mostly used in the sense
which gibbon describes. Using it as "No" sounds pretty strong. More often, the
main verb/adjective is repeated in positive/negative as needed.




The key to whether to reply with はい or いいえ is not whether the _form_ of the
question is positive or negative, but whether the question is asked in a way
which expects a positive or a negative answer:

> 一緒に行きませんか？(expects a positive answer)  
>  はい、是非一緒に行きましょう。
>
> 一緒に行かないんですか？(expects a negative answer)  
>  はい、残念ながら行けません。

I guess this response could be regarded as cyclic, since the obvious next
question would be when a question expects a positive or a negative answer.
Usually positive forms expect positive answers and negative forms expect
negative answers. The tricky ones are the simple negative-form+か (without んです
or のです), which are often used for invitations, or to ask for agreement. An
example of an invitation is given above. Below is an example of asking for
agreement.

> これ、おかしくありませんか？  
>  はい、そうですね。おかしいですね。

Returning to いいえ, I would say that in practise, it's mostly used in the sense
which gibbon describes. Using it as "No" sounds pretty strong. More often, the
main verb/adjective is repeated in positive/negative as needed.

