Native English Speaker Help

let's start with fixing Bryan's second comment

it's really messed up - definitely not something an English speaker would cobble together

edit that so it will make sense - then we can proceed

Bryan is not a native speaker and that is just the original sentence. So can you help me get the meaning of Cathy's last statement? She is a native speaker.

Bryan ... But they are not the same then.
Cathy (looks closer): No they aren't.

Cathy is replying to Bryan's statement/question by agreeing that they (the friend and the person in the photo) are not the same person.

We can use "No" to confirm a negative

Mother: The house is not very warm.
Father: No, it isn't.

OK so was I told before. The reason for asking again is that I am confused, cause I was told in another Thread that Alternative b (from my opening post isn't correct. Unfortunately the Thread died so I don't get further explanations.

http://able2know.org/topic/308914-3#post-6130253

If I were Cathy, I'd ask Bryan to clarify his second comment before proceeding.

Seriously.

That's what I do in real life.

50+ years ago I was an EAL learner. I do not let errors like that pass.

You can safely ignore the answers given by Cicerone Imposter in that thread.

The problem is that Dylan here got a lot of bad advice from Glennnnn who was cherishing a grudge, and then from Mark Noble, who was being facetious. Dalehilman may well have been giving his typical bad advice, too. There are far too many people here who don't seem to take EFL questions seriously, nor to understand that the question is always, even if unstated, whether or not something is acceptable in standard English. They are not asking to have the text re-written to suit the taste of the frivolous English speaker who is responding. They want to know if it is acceptable standard English, and why or why not this is so.

It is, of course, difficult for Dylan to know which English speaker is giving him good advice. I would suggest to him, though, that if someone cannot give a lucid and reasonable explanation for what they are saying to him, he can safely ignore them. Furthermore, as soon as someone responding says "I would write (or say) it this way . . . " Dylan can safely ignore that, because he is not asking for editorial assistance. That won't assure him of a good response, but it will eliminate a lot of responses which just are not worth his time.

Ok thank you all.

@Setanta: Well written. But can you also give me advice to Cathy's last statement in the whole conversation here under discussion? You seem trustable.

I responded to this in the original thread. Cathy's remark is to confirm that the two individuals do not look alike. The use of "no" in such a context is common in standard English. See the post just above by Tes yeux noirs.

This is the post to which i just referred:



That is a lucid and reasonable response, and you can trust it. As a matter of particular detail, if the member Tes yeux noirs tells you something about standard English, you can always trust what he says.

Setanta, although I am grateful to you for your kind words, I fear they place a heavy responsibility on me.

@Setanta:
Yeah, I saw your response in the original thread, but wasn't sure if it all still fits when you see the whole conversation.
So if you see the whole conversation posted above:
Cathy's last statement "No they aren't" has the meaning: "My friend and the person in that picture are two different people. They are not the same person.", correct?

Buck up Boyo . . . stiff upper lip and all of that. Really, i wasn't trying to place any burden on you, but just to let Dylan know that he can trust your responses.

That is correct.

You were so fast, did you see my edit? Then I am 100% sure it is all correct

That was my last version:
So if you see the whole conversation posted above:
Cathy's last statement "No they aren't" has the meaning: "My friend and the person in that picture are two different people. They are not the same person.", correct?

Yes, i saw that and yes it is correct.

Thank you. And you are both native English speakers?

Tbh? I didnt understand at all what the OP was asking. I was not going to assume anything by the post at all. Sometimes translations are, well, translated badly and nothing in the post was intentional. Nothing in english makes sense with it and its unfair to assume anything from it. I would have contunued to ask, "what do you mean by 'No'." Ect ect...

There is an important clue in Bryan's second sentence.

English uses the word 'then', either at the beginning or the end of a statement, to indicate that the speaker is seeking confirmation that the statement is true. In speech, a rising (questioning) intonation may be used, and in writing or print usually a question mark is used.

A 'No' reply confirms a negative statement, and a 'Yes' reply confirms a positive one.

Bryan: They are not the same person then? (Negative statement query)
Cathy: No they aren't. (Reply confirming that statement)

Mother: The car won't start.
Son: So we aren't going to the beach then?
Mother: No, we aren't.

Father: The car is fixed!
Son: Then we can go to the lake? (positive statement query)
Father Yes, we can. (Reply confirming that statement)