An international student told me this story. A friend asked, "Aren't you drinking coffee?" and since the student wasn't drinking any, they said, "No." But then the friend just pushed a coffee toward them. ## I didn't know the reason either I've answered "yes" my whole life, but I'd never thought about why. A student asked, "If I don't drink, isn't it No?" and I was left speechless. ## You answer the words, not the facts I looked it up and found out. English answers to the facts. If you don't drink, it's No. But in Korean, you answer whether you agree with what the other person said. Answering "네" to "안 마셔요?" means "That's right, I'm not drinking." "아니요" becomes "That's wrong, I do drink." "네, 그런데…" also comes up for a similar reason. "아니요" feels like you're directly telling the other person they're wrong. So you first accept what they said with "네," and then continue with what you want to say. In Korean, acknowledging what the other person said comes first. ## Try It Right Away When you're confused, don't just say "yes" or "no"; say the whole thing through to the end. "Yes, I don't drink." "No, I drink." If you add the verb after it like this, there's almost no misunderstanding.