In fact, regardless of the translation direction (i.e. In translation, this little twist means that “yes/no” responses to negative English questions are translated to “no/yes” answers in Korean (or vice-versa), and a translator must be careful to get this right. If I asked you if you didn’t look at the resume and you, in fact, didn’t look at it, then, yes, you didn’t look at it. But in Korean, the answer strictly follows the logic of the question. When we reply in English, we ignore the fact that the question was negative and pretend it was positive. If you did, then in English you’d say “Yes, I did,” and if you didn’t, you’d say “No, I didn’t”.Ī Korean would say, “No, I did,” or “Yes, I didn’t”.Ĭonfused? This difference happens because I asked a negative question. You didn’t stop and look at my resume when you read the first paragraph a moment ago, did you? So, before we start today’s tip, I have a question…. Today’s tip is #38! (Check out my resume for links to the other thirty-seven.) I’m also proud that this Korean Translation Tips series is pushing four years now.

I’m proud to say that this effort has resulted in an upgraded resume. It’s been several months since my last Korean translation tip because, well, I’ve been busy translating… and have also spent this time working hard to improve my skills and credentials.

No means yes would you like that