いいえ

Japanese

Alternative forms

• (usually in repetition) いえ (ie)

Etymology

Corruption of 否 (ina); related to 否む (inamu, “refuse”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) いいえ​ [ìíéꜜ] (Odaka – [3])
• IPA^(key): [iːe̞]

Interjection

いいえ • (īe) 

1. no

   「東(とう)京(きょう)出(しゅっ)身(しん)ですか。」「いいえ、大(おお)阪(さか)出(しゅっ)身(しん)です。」

   “Tōkyō shusshin desu ka.”“Īe, Ōsaka shusshin desu.”

   "Are you from Tokyo?" "No, I am from Osaka."

2. Response to words of gratitude.

   「ありがとうございます。」「いいえ、どういたしまして。」

   “Arigatō gozaimasu.”“Īe, dō itashimashite.”

   "Thank you." "My pleasure."

   「あ、どうも。」「いえいえ、こちらこそ。」

   “A, dōmo.”“Ie ie, kochira koso.”

   "Oh, thanks." "Not at all, I should thank you."

Usage notes

May be considered overly direct. Use of simple declaratives is also possible, such as 違(ちが)います (chigaimasu).

Synonyms

• ううん (ūn)

Antonyms

• はい (hai)

See also

• 嫌(いや) (iya)