Examples
Отсю́да до моего́ до́ма руко́й пода́ть.
at-syú-da da ma-ee-vó dó-ma ru-kóî pa-dát'
From here to my house is a stone's throw away.
Метро́ далеко́ отсю́да? - Да нет, руко́й пода́ть.
meet-ró da-lee-kó at-syú-da? - da nyet, ru-kóî pa-dát'
Is the metro far from here? - No, it's a stone's throw away.
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Julie says:
Why “да нет” in the example sentence below? What a paradox ! Is it perhaps polite in Russian to not immediately say “no”? And in what contexts is “да нет” to be used?
Thank you in advance for an answer.
Метро́ далеко́ отсю́да? – Да нет, руко́й пода́ть.
Learn Russian Daily says:
Hello Julie,
Thanks for the interesting question.
“Да” in this case is not “yes” but a particle, something like “well” in English. Russians use it a lot in the conversations speech. It softens the phrase and makes it sound more natural.
Probably the closest translation of the example above would be “Actually no, it’s very close.”
You can learn more about the use of “да” as a particle here (second part of the post).
Good luck!