Answering With the Verb

Level 2

Galician often answers a yes/no question by repeating the verb: Queres café? — Quero. (Do you want coffee? — Yes, please.) Change the verb to your own person: Vés? — Veño.

How It Works

How it works: take the conjugated verb from the question and change the person to fit the answer. Ti becomes eu, vós becomes nós, and so on:

  • Vés mañá? — Veño. (Are you coming tomorrow? — Yes, I am.)
  • Podedes axudar? — Podemos. (Can you all help? — Yes, we can.)
  • Fixeches os deberes? — Fixen. (Did you do your homework? — Yes, I did.)

Verb phrases: repeat only the first verb: Vas vir? — Vou. Tes que traballar? — Teño.

Pronouns change too: a pronoun that shows the person also switches: Gústache? — Gústame.

Negative answers: use non + verb, often with an extra non first: Non, non podo.

Si is fine too: Si or Si, quero are correct. The verb answer is simply the most typical Galician reply. See yes/no questions.

Examples (6)

  1. Vés mañá? — Veño.

    Are you coming tomorrow? — Yes, I am.

    Word by Word: Come-you tomorrow? — Come-I.

    Vés (you come) becomes veño (I come).

  2. Queres café? — Quero.

    Do you want coffee? — Yes, please.

    Word by Word: Want-you coffee? — Want-I.

  3. Tes frío? — Non, non teño.

    Are you cold? — No, I am not.

    Word by Word: Have-you cold? — No, not have-I.

    For no, put non before the repeated verb.

  4. Fixeches os deberes? — Fixen.

    Did you do your homework? — Yes, I did.

    Word by Word: Did-you the homework? — Did-I.

    The answer keeps the tense of the question.

  5. Gústache o polbo? — Gústame moito.

    Do you like octopus? — Yes, I like it a lot.

    Word by Word: Pleases-you the octopus? — Pleases-me much.

    The pronoun changes from che (you) to me (me).

  6. Vas vir á festa? — Vou.

    Are you going to come to the party? — Yes, I am.

    Word by Word: Go-you come to-the party? — Go-I.

    In a verb phrase, only the first verb is repeated.

Common Mistakes

  • Repeating the verb without changing the person.

    Vés mañá? — Vés.
    Vés mañá? — Veño.

    The answer is about yourself, so the verb must be in the eu form: veño.

  • Keeping the pronoun of the question.

    Gústache o polbo? — Gústache.
    Gústache o polbo? — Gústame.

    Che means to you. When you answer about yourself, it becomes me: gústame.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Answering With the VerbLevel 2

Learn This First

A yes-no question can be answered by repeating its verb in the right person.