Polyglot Dictionary

doch

/dɔx/

particle, adverb, conjunction A2

der (masc.) die (fem.) das (neut.)

Underline = a spelling pattern that usually signals that gender.

part Register Neutral Era Current Frequency Core Domain General Tone Neutral

Meaning

  1. yes it is! — contradicting a negative statement or question

    German has a dedicated word for this, where English has to repeat the verb. This is the sense learners meet first.

    • — Du kommst nicht mit. — Doch!

      — You're not coming. — Yes I am!

    • — Hast du das nicht gesehen? — Doch, natürlich.

      — Didn't you see that? — Yes, of course I did.

  2. softening or urging particle, roughly "do", "why don't you", "go on"

    unstressed, in the middle of a clause

    • Komm doch mit!

      Do come along!

    • Setz dich doch.

      Go on, have a seat.

  3. after all, surely — appealing to something both speakers know

    • Das weißt du doch.

      You know that, surely.

  4. but, yet

    as a conjunction, more formal

Which sense learners meet first

  1. Contradicting "no"45%
  2. Softening particle30%
  3. "after all"15%
  4. "but" (conjunction)10%
Illustrative placeholder figures, included to show how the figures field renders. Replace with real corpus counts before publishing.

Similar words

nein

nein answers a positive question negatively. doch is the special word for contradicting a NEGATIVE question or statement — "Kommst du nicht? — Doch!" (Aren't you coming? — Yes I am!), a distinction English has no dedicated word for.

Synonyms

  • jedoch
  • allerdings

See also

Usage notes

doch is a modal particle: it adjusts the attitude of a sentence rather than adding information. Stress is the main clue to which sense is meant. Stressed and standing alone it contradicts; unstressed inside a clause it softens or appeals.

There is no single English equivalent, so the translations above are approximations rather than dictionary glosses.

particlehard-to-translatespoken

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