Yes
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- For other uses, see yes (disambiguation) and Yes (band)
Yes is a common English word indicating agreement or acceptance. It is the opposite of no. It is often replaced by "yeah", "yep" (with various spellings, including "yup"), "uh-huh,", "ayuh", (generally used only in Maine), "aye" or "abuli".
The word "yes" comes from the Old English gése, gíse, gýse (pronounced with a palatized g which was represented by a yogh), with the literal meaning of so be it!. From géa + sī, the present subjunctive of to be (be it!). Géa, (possibly meaning thus), is from the Proto-Germanic *ja or *je, with the meaning of yes or truly.[1]
The words "aye" and "yea" are used for "yes" in some contexts. 'Aye' is more common in Scotland and northern England. It may also be used in meetings: 'All who agree say "aye"'. 'Aye' is also a nautical way of saying 'yes'. 'Aye, Aye' means I hear the command, I understand it, and will obey it. 'Yea' is archaic. The King James Bible always uses 'yea' and never 'yes'.
In English, "yes" is also used to answer a negative question or statement, an example of "yes" used to disagree with a question or statement is:
The questions "You don’t want it, do you?" and "Don’t you want it?" can be answered by "yes" if the respondent does want the item, and "no" if he or she does not. However, other words are used when the answer needs to be clearly delineated, as in "Of course I want it," or "No, not at all." Many languages use a different word for this purpose. For example, German has "doch" for this purpose (rather than "ja"), French uses "si" (rather than "oui") and Norwegian uses "jo" or "jau".
