“Doch” is used to negate a negative question. So basically you are saying “Yes, I am afraid.”, but in one word. (Or is the correct negation “No, I am afraid.”? It’s really very confusing in English.)
That’s neat. Makes me wonder, if we had another word for Nein in German as well at some point. If so, I’m sad we dropped it.
It’s always nice to learn the ways English and German diverged at some point, like English dropping the -st ending for verbs for the second person singular. I. e. “thou hast” (“du hast”), “thou thinkest” (“du denkst”).
“Doch” is used to negate a negative question. So basically you are saying “Yes, I am afraid.”, but in one word. (Or is the correct negation “No, I am afraid.”? It’s really very confusing in English.)
English actualy did have terms for that, they just got a bit bastardised with “yea” and “nay” dropping out of common speech:
Will they not go? — Yes, they will.
Will they not go? — No, they will not.
Will they go? — Yea, they will.
Will they go? — Nay, they will not.
That’s neat. Makes me wonder, if we had another word for Nein in German as well at some point. If so, I’m sad we dropped it.
It’s always nice to learn the ways English and German diverged at some point, like English dropping the -st ending for verbs for the second person singular. I. e. “thou hast” (“du hast”), “thou thinkest” (“du denkst”).