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If you have already started learning German or experienced German culture, you may have realised that Germans are much more forthcoming than other nations. Affirmative or dissenting phrases like a plain Yes or No are much more acceptable than they would be, for example, in English culture. In German, that would, of course, be ‘Ja’ or ‘Nein’.
Have you ever asked a binary question in German that contained a negative and expected a ‘no’ response for an affirmative answer and a ‘yes’ response for a negative one? Are you wondering why, against the odds, you have not received the expected response in reply to that question, but the answer ‘doch’ and the speaker even stressed their curt reply? Then, the speaker directly countered the negative in your question. Consider this: Sprechen Sie kein Deutsch? — Don’t you speak German? The answer was Doch! – In English, it would have been: Yes, I do! Here is another example: Wohnen Sie nicht in London? Doch! Don’t you live in London? Yes, I do!
You may also hear a German speaker contradict a statement that is not true using the word ‘doch’. Consider this: Fritz spricht kein Deutsch. The listener would contradict that statement, as is done in reply to a negative question, with ‘doch’ — Fritz doesn’t speak German. The English equivalent contradicting that statement would be ‘that’s not right’.
‘Doch’ can also be deployed as a modal particle or flavouring word. The speaker, denying that they speak English and not expecting the listener to disagree, says: Ich spreche doch kein English. — I don’t speak English, as you know. Here, the word ‘doch’ is not stressed.
You may hear a speaker stress the word ‘doch’ in a sentence: Heinrich versteht doch Deutsch. Here, the speaker indicates against expectations that Heinrich does understand German—it was against all odds. Should the speaker state the same sentence without stressing ‘doch’, they expect you to agree.
Wollen Sie kein Deutsch lernen? Doch! — Don’t you want to learn German? Yes, I do.
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