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I was wondering if there is a difference if you add that ん. Is the first one correct and the second one not?

男じゃないんですか？

男じゃないですか？

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    Possible duplicate: Difference between noun phrase + なの/ですか/なんですか Strongly related: Use of ～のか and ～んですか in questions not seeking a yes no answer
    – blutorange
    Commented Apr 18, 2015 at 6:42
  • But in this case ん is not a statement, is a question, I was asking if the way of asking needs that ん. This question neither is なんですか？　or　んです。
    – Jaume
    Commented Apr 18, 2015 at 13:19
  • I'm sorry if I changed the intention of your question. But let me try to explain why I thought these questions are similar: The general pattern is sentence+の/ん+copula+か. If the sentence ends on the copula だ, it becomes な, giving なのか or なのですか/なんですか. If it ends on the negated copula じゃない, you get じゃないのか or じゃないのですか/じゃないんですか. As I understood it, the question was about the presence of ん/の, not the negated phrase before it.
    – blutorange
    Commented Apr 18, 2015 at 17:05
  • 一例ですが、「あれ？もしかして、あの人、男じゃないですか？」って言うとき(今気づいた時など)に、「男じゃないですか？」って言うと思います。誰かが「あの女の人は~~~。」とか言ったことに対して「えっ？あの人は、男じゃないんですか？（男ですよね！？）」 って言うときには「男じゃないんですか？」って言うと思います。
    – chocolate ♦
    Commented Apr 19, 2015 at 5:09
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    厳密に言えば、両文とも、イントネーションによって意味やニュアンスが変わるような気がしますが、発音の説明はしにくいので、今回はパスで・・　真面目に考えていると気が変になりそうなタイプの質問です。
    – user4032
    Commented Apr 19, 2015 at 13:13

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I think the difference is how long you assumed that the person is a man. 「男じゃないんですか？」 implies that you've been assuming that the person is a man for some time. On the other hand, 「男じゃないですか？」 implies that you have just realized that the person is a man (though, it depends on the emphasis. You would put the emphasis on the word 「ない」 in this case).

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  • This use of ん applies for every negative question with ない, right?
    – Jaume
    Commented Apr 19, 2015 at 16:20
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    Yes, I believe so (at least I can't think of a counterexample off the top of my head). I might also add that ないんですか？ is an informal version of ないのですか？.
    – NigoroJr
    Commented Apr 19, 2015 at 17:11

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