Yes and No
You might think that there is nothing easier in the English language than the two little words yes and no. Do you like Germany? - Yes! Can you speak good German? - No! What could be simpler? In fact, it may be more difficult than you think! See how you do answering the following quiz questions!
Consider the following dialogue, and say whether the husband did or did not feed the dog.
Wife: You didn't remember to feed the dog!
Husband: No!
2. Is the following dialogue possible in English, and if so, what does yes mean?
Wife: You didn't remember to feed the dog!
Husband: Yes!
This is a tricky part in English, and to avoid this, I try to say something to clarify my "yes or no" answer.
Wife: You did not remember to feed the dog?
Husband: No, I remembered to feed it. /or/ Yes, I remembered to feed it.
I am almost positive there is a formula in English grammar that dictates what the answer to this question would be based on the negative part of the sentence with the question mark, but I do not know the rule.
First of all, if my husband forgot to feed the dog, I would not say, "You didn't remember to feed the dog!" "Didn't remember" is a passive choice of words and makes the statement sound a bit awkward. I would be more straight to the point: "You FORGOT to feed the dog!" Then my husband would be able to give a clear response: "No (I didn't forget)!" / "Yes (I forgot)!"
Well, I remember my English teacher told me a golden rule regarding the yes/no question:
Say "yes" to reflect the positive, "no" to reflect the negative answer of the primary verb.
Q: You are a boy, aren't you?
A: Yes ( I am a boy) OR No ( I am NOT a boy).
Q: Didn't you forget to turn off the heat?
A: Yes ( I forgot) OR No ( I did NOT forget).
Q: You didn't remember to tell me that you forgot to not open the door, did you?
A: Yes ( I remember) OR No ( I did NOT remember)
Don't get confused no matter how complex the question is. Always focus on the primary verb.
In other words, technically, it's incorrect to reply something like....no, I remember to do that when someone asks you " You didn't remember to do that?"
I would say
If I didn't feed the dog I would say, no
Wife: You didn't remember to feed the dog!
Husband: No!
If I did feed the dog I would say, yes, I did. not just ''yes'' but ''yes, I did.
Wife: You didn't remember to feed the dog!
Husband: Yes!
In French, we have two words for "yes": "oui" and "si"
The first one is used when you answer positively to a positive question
(Did you feed the dog?/As-tu donné à manger au chien ? => Yes/Oui)
The second one is for answering positively to a negative question
(Didn't you feed the dog? / N'as-tu pas donné à manger au chien ? => Yes, I did/Si)
That's quite useful. But many people make mistakes by answering "Non" to mean they actually fed the dog.
Imagine your friend says: John hasn't phoned yet and this is wrong because in fact John phoned an hour ago. How do you contradict what your friend said?
John hasn't phoned yet. - Yes!
John hasn't phoned yet. - No!
Neither a nor b.
Answers
1. Wife: You didn't remember to feed the cat!
Husband: No!
In this dialogue, the husband is agreeing with the wife and admitting that he did indeed not remember to feed the cat.
Wife: You didn't remember to feed the cat!
Husband: Yes!
The response Yes, by itself, is impossible here. If the husband wishes to dispute the wife's claim, he would have to say: Yes I did!
Imagine your friend says: John hasn't phoned yet and this is wrong because in fact John phoned an hour ago. How do you contradict what your friend said?
John hasn't phoned yet. - Yes!
John hasn't phoned yet - No!
Neither a nor b.
Answer c. is correct. Answer a. is impossible for the same reason as given in question 2 above; and answer b. would be an agreement with, not a contradiction of what your friend said. To contradict your friend, you would have to say: Yes, he has! Or Yes, he did!