Yes, I said si. It's a French word, I promise! And I can't get it into my immediate vocabulary. I know how to use it, but can't manage to remember it fast enough.
What does it mean? It means "if," but also means "yes" in a special circumstance. Oui of course is the word for "yes" in French, but when you are responding "yes" to a negative question, the word is si. And I never get it. It always comes out oui, and as soon as that word slides out of my month I know it's wrong.
A Real Life Example from Yesterday:
French friend: Tu ne l'aimes pas? (You don't like it?) - referring to my new haircut
Me: Oui, je l'aime. (Yes, I do like it.)
French friend: Si. (She corrected me.)
Me: Arg! Je sais! (Arg! I know!)
I'm agonizing over 'si' as well... I can't wait for it to effortlessly pop out in a conversation, but I always forget and use 'oui'.
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