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I found out one of my training dates has been moved up and I asked the following question to clarify: "So it's not going to be on June 17th?"

And they replied: "Nope, the date has been changed because of reasons."

I realized through the help on this site I asked a negative question which gave me an ambiguous answer. How should I reword this question to get straightforward answer?

Hellion
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    The use here is a confirmation of the negative. Sort of like saying: "They won't be coming?" "No, they won't." You are correct that the same meaning is conveyed if someone said: "They won't be coming?" "Yes, they won't." – RaceYouAnytime May 19 '17 at 06:37
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    Possible duplicate of How to answer a negative question without ambiguity? – NVZ May 19 '17 at 06:46
  • @RaceYouAnytime To my mind it still leaves a slight ambiguity. Had they said "No, it has been changed to..." then there would be no doubt. But I suppose it could mean that it has been changed back to June 17th. To avoid this it is best, when seeking critical information, not to pose negative questions. Had the OP asked "Is it right that the date has been changed from June 17th?", it would have been more difficult to have answered ambiguously. – WS2 May 19 '17 at 09:03
  • @WS2 I would not take the given answer as ambiguous in any way; it's clear to me that they meant that the training is not going to happen on June 17th, and then they gave additional information (that the date was changed because of "reasons"). – Hellion May 19 '17 at 20:36
  • @Hellion I'm sure you are right. Perhaps I should not have said that it left a slight ambiguity, but a very slight ambiguity. But my main point stands. It's better, for the sake of clarity, not to ask negative questions. – WS2 May 19 '17 at 22:11
  • Negative questions are cans of worms.  Negative questions are the door to Hell.  Negative questions are Pandora’s Box.  Once you take the lid off, you’re in trouble. Like Alice through the Looking Glass, everything’s backwards, and nothing makes sense. – Scott - Слава Україні May 20 '17 at 04:25

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