Content

• To step
• Method 1 of 4: Just yes
• Method 2 of 4: Yes in colloquial speech
• Method 3 of 4: Clear confirmations
• Method 4 of 4: Alternate affirmative answers

If you want to say "yes" in French you usually just say "oui" but there are other ways you can answer in the affirmative. Read below what these alternative sayings are.

To step

Method 1 of 4: Just yes

1. When you say “oui”, you just say “yes”.
   • This is how people answer in the affirmative, in both formal and informal situations.
   • You pronounce this phonetically as “wee”.
   • If you want to be polite you can put "missus" or "miss" behind it.
     • “Monsieur”, which you pronounce as “muh-see-euh”, is the same as sir in Dutch.
     • “Madame”, which you pronounce as “Mad-dehm”, is the same as madam in Dutch.
     • "Mademoiselle", which you pronounce as "mah-dehm-mwah-zel" is the same as miss in old Dutch. This indicates that a woman is unmarried, even if this no longer plays a role in Dutch and you usually just say madam.
2. If you want to be polite you can say “oui merci” which means “yes thank you”.
   • "Merci" means "thank you" or "thank you".
   • This is pronounced “WEE, mehr-SEE”.
3. If you want to say “yes, please”, you say “oui, s’il vous plaît”.
   • If you want to say please say "s'il vous plaît".
     • "S'il" means "if."
     • "Vous" means "you."
     • "Plaît" means "please."
   • You pronounce this sentence as follows: “Woe, seell voo PLEH”.

Method 2 of 4: Yes in colloquial speech

1. If you want to respond informally, say “ouais.This is the same as "yeah" in English.
   • You pronounce this as “woo-ay”.
2. Use "ouaip" if you want to say "yep".
   • You pronounce this as "woo-ayp".

Method 3 of 4: Clear confirmations

1. If you want to emphasize something, say “évidemment” which means something like clear or apparent.
   • You pronounce this like "eh-vee-dah-mah".
2. If you mean to be sure, you say “certainement”.
   • You pronounce this as "sehr-tehn-mah".
3. Another way to emphasize something is to use the word “carrément”. This means downright.
   • You pronounce this as "kah-ray-mah".
4. If you want to say whole, complete, or in all respects, use “tout à fait”.
   • Tout means all or complete.
   • À can be used in many ways but usually refers to “to”, “by” or “in”.
   • Fait means fact, event or occurrence.
   • You pronounce this like “toot ah feh”.
5. When you use “en effet” you say “indeed” or “in fact”.
   • And means “in”.
   • Effet means "effect".
   • You pronounce this as follows “ahn ay-feh”.
6. When you say “bien sûr”, you actually say “of course!”
   • Bien means "good".
   • Sûr means “natural” or “sure”.
   • You pronounce this as follows “byahng soor”.

Method 4 of 4: Alternate affirmative answers

1. Now and then say “très bien”. This is a polite way to show that you really like something.
   • Très means "very much".
   • Bien means "good".
   • You pronounce this as “tray byahng”.
2. Also say "c'est bien" every now and then to indicate that something has been done well. This means that something is good.
   • C’est means “it is”.
   • Bien means "good".
3. You pronounce this as follows “say byahng”.
   • Ça Va means use you to say OK.
   • Ça means "it".
   • Va comes from the verb “aller” and means “it goes, it does or it is”.
4. You pronounce this as follows “sah vah”.
   • You can also say “d’accord” when someone asks you something. This means “agreed”.
   • You pronounce this as “dah-korr”.
5. Volontiers means something like “please!”.
   • You pronounce this like "vuh-loh-tyay".
6. When you say "avec plaisir", you say "like" or "with pleasure".
   • Avec means "with".
   • Plaisir means "pleasure".
   • You pronounce this like “ah-vehk play-seh”.