Sorry if this belongs in the simple questions thread, I thought it might be a little complicated…
Is there a Japanese word for “sure,” as in “I don’t necessarily agree with you but I will accept what you’re saying,” as in –
A) Let’s say that nice guys finish last.
B) Sure… (I don’t know if that’s right, but ok…)
A) Then if I’m finishing last, then I must be a nice guy.
A lot of times if someone’s talking, I want to express this kind of sentiment. In particular, when I’m explaining something there’s a big difference between “sure” and “yes” as in:
A) So then I type what’s in this box into this document.
B) Sure.
A) Is there a better way?
B) I mean, you can copy and paste it, so you don’t have to type it out every time.
vs
A) So then I type what’s in this box into this document.
B) Yes.
A) Alright, thanks.
10 comments
AFAIK in Japanese, people use “hai” or “un” to show that they’re actively listening. Let me quote from some page:
> It’s important to note that Aizuchi and agreement are two separate things. The nuance can be a bit difficult to grasp in the beginning, but just remember that Japanese interjections would just mean “I understand, I got it” and not necessarily “I approve/agree”. Be careful not to mistake “I am listening” for an expression of agreement.
> Here’s how you can express Aizuchi:
> “Yes.”
> – はい: hai Yes,
> – ええ: ee Yes, right, sure.
> – うん: un Yeah, yup.
So the question turns into “What do I need to say if I mean ‘yes’ and not ‘sure’ in cases where they could be confused”, and again AFAIK the answer is to elaborate more on your answer. “Yes, that’s what you do”.
Something like そうかも〜 (sou kamo) would probably be used here by someone who wanted to agree but express doubt
Repeating the verb might have this effect.
Person A:ごはんを食べますか
Person B: 食べます
I think I’ve seen this used in the context of
A: do you want to eat this food?
B: sure (not sure if he wants it)
Although I’m curious if anyone knows a better way to say this as this answer feels kind of informal.
When you want to express that kind of feelings, you can just say あぁ、まぁね… in casual, and えぇ、まぁ… in formal.
isn’t it もちろん
If someone said
〜としよう。(Let’s assume …)
and you didn’t agree with the premise but you want to entertain their hypotheticals, you could interject with
仮(かり)にね
to express that you are following them so long as it’s a hypothetical.
Lots of other ways to do it. Like others said you don’t even have to say anything other than うん
You could also try something more long-winded.
んーそれはちょっとどうかと思いますが、仮の話ね
“Mmm… I’m not so sure about that, but it’s a hypothetical, right, so alright”
Could come off like you’re trying too hard to disagree, so in some circumstances it may be more succinct and polite to just say うん and save your disagreement for when it’s your turn to speak.
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For your latter two, the distinction in JP could be made with それで合っているよ (That’s the right way to do it) vs まあそれでもいいよ (Well that works too), the latter suggesting that there are other ways to do it. Something along those lines.
Based on the example, I think you’re looking for a dismissive “sure”? If so, say 「はいはい」 in a sarcastic, dismissive tone (with no pauses in between はい) to brush someone off. It can be used in a casual and joking way among friends, but it can also be quite rude so assess the situation and listeners wisely.
Currently in Japan for study abroad and all of my Japanese friends will just say はい in casual conversation. It’s either that or some sound like うん or あ. I don’t really know how to express it but they’re just noises of agreement lol.
I use そうですけど but there are other ways.
What you describe is not even what sure means by itself, so as others have said, there’s not really any reason you couldn’t use はい, ええ, うん in the same way. The meaning you ascribe to “sure” could only be implied via tone, how you say the word, context, and body language, all of which also applies to speaking in Japanese.