What is the difference between these responses? [duplicate]
-
Use short answers:
Don’t you have any money? — No, I don’t.
Don’t you have any money? — Yes, I do. -
Let context guide the listener:
Don’t you have any money? — No, I gave it all to Lucy.
Don’t you have any money? — Yes, but not enough for this item. -
Use quantifiers, or intensifiers:
Don’t you have any money? — None or None whatsoever.
Don’t you have any money? — I have enough. In Early Modern English, there were specific words for that.
The most unambiguous way to answer would be:
I do have money.
English used to have four affirmative and negative forms (yes, yea, no, nay) to answer negatively formed questions like this but it was itself confusing, even for literary scholars of the time.