Short answers

1. Look at this example:

Question + Short Answer

Is he at work? -- Yes, he is.
Can I come? -- No, you can't.
Do you like it? -- Yes, I do.
Does she live here? -- No, she doesn't.

We call these 'short answer' because they are not 'full' answers:

Is she sick? --> Yes, she is sick. (full answer)
--> Yes, she is. (short answer)

We use short answers to reply to 'yes/ no' questions.

Are you coming? --> Yes, I am
--> No, I'm not

2. We form short answers by not using the main verb from the question:

Have they gone? -->Yes, they have gone.
Did he go to Paris? --> Yes, he did go.
Is she waiting? --> Yes, she is waiting.

When the main verb is be, we use be:

Are you tired? --> Yes, I am.

When use answer No, we use a negative verb:

Will they win? -->No, they won't.
Did Paul come? -->No, he didn't.
Are you cold? --> No, I'm not.

We never use positive short forms in short answers:

Are you tired? --> Yes, I am. ( not Yes, I'm.)
Is he happy?--> Yes, he is. ( not Yes, he's.)

3. We can also use short answers to reply 'yes' or 'no' to statements:

Statement + Reply

He's working hard --> Yes, he is.
She's at work. --> No, She isn't.
She loves films. --> Yes, she does.

Note that with Present Simple or Past Simple verbs, we use do, does or did in the reply:

She loves films -->Yes, she does.
He liked the book --> Yes, he did.

4. When we write, we normally put a 'comma' (,) after Yes or No in short answers:

He lives in London. -->No, her doesn't