いいえ

also: いえ

い

え

Common wordJLPTN5Freq.FrequencyTop 500

Meanings

Polite negative answer to a yes/no question or statement. In casual speech, ううん or いや are more common.

Used to modestly deflect thanks, similar to 'it was nothing'. Often repeated: いいえ、いいえ.

いいえ、〜ませんpolite negative reply, often followed by a correction or clarification
いいえ、私わたしは学がく生せいではありません。
No, I am not a student.
いいえ、こちらこそused to modestly deflect thanks or an apology, meaning 'not at all, it's I who should thank you'
いいえ、こちらこそありがとうございました。
Not at all, thank you too.

ううん sense 1
ううん is the casual, everyday way to say 'no' among friends or family, while いいえ is the polite, formal equivalent.
どういたしましてN5sense 2
どういたしまして is a fuller, more explicit way to say 'you're welcome', while いいえ is a lighter, more modest deflection of thanks.
いや sense 1
いや is an informal 'no' often used by men, whereas いいえ is gender-neutral and polite.
否いな
いいえ is the standard polite way to say no in everyday conversation, while 否 is a formal, literary interjection reserved for solemn or rhetorical contexts.

Show 2 more

ノーN3
いいえ is the standard, neutral Japanese word for 'no,' while ノー has a more casual, English-flavored feel and is less used in polite speech.
いやいや
いいえ is the standard polite way to say no, while いやいや is more emphatic or colloquial, often used to brush off a compliment or correct a misunderstanding.

はいN5sense 1
はい is the polite affirmative 'yes', directly opposite いいえ's polite negative 'no'.
ええN5
いいえ is the polite 'no' that directly opposes the affirmative ええ ('yes').
ヤー
いいえ is the standard word for no, opposite in meaning to the affirmative ヤー.

いいやplain
いいえ is the polite, neutral way to say no, while いいや is a casual, more emphatic denial used with friends or in informal talk.
いやplain
いや is a casual, informal way to say no, while いいえ is the polite, formal counterpart used with strangers or superiors.
ううんplain
いいえ is the polite, formal way to deny or refuse something, while ううん is its casual spoken counterpart.
否ひ
否 is a formal, literary noun for 'no' used in writing and formal decisions, while いいえ is the everyday spoken word for 'no' in ordinary conversation.

いいね
いいね and いいえ sound and look similar but いいね expresses approval ('that's good') while いいえ means 'no'.

いいえUsage49%
Standard polite negative response; the most common form in careful speech.
いえUsage50%
A slightly more casual or clipped variant of いいえ, common in everyday conversation.
イエUsage1%
イイエUsage<1%

A polite negative response that differentiated from いや through the forms いえ and いいえ during the Edo period.