Questions tagged [tag-question]
付加疑問文. Essentially declarative statements that are made into questions by adding an interrogative expression or a special marker. In Japanese they are used very often, especially in order to look for approval or to soften declarations.
15 questions
0
votes
1
answer
224
views
Understanding these definitions for ～ではないか
I was looking up the definitions for ～ではないか and ～のではないか in Sanseidou and I encountered three similar-looking definitions:
ではないか｟終助｠
①問いかけや推量をあらわす。〔ほぼ断定している場合もある〕
「うそ━・問題があるの━」
のではないか｟終助｠〔←助動詞「のだ」...
- 1,325
1
vote
1
answer
116
views
Comparing Nではないだろうか and Nなのではないだろうか
According to bunpro, the structure of ではないだろうか with a noun is
Noun + （なの）+ ではない（だろう）か
It seems like the なの part is optional. So, I wonder if there is any difference between Noun+ではないだろうか and Noun+...
- 1,325
2
votes
1
answer
166
views
Difference between じゃないか and じゃないのか
It is still not clear to me what is the difference between ～じゃないか and ～じゃないのか. The answer to this old question of mine mentions that they are pretty much interchangeable and I wish to learn more ...
- 1,325
1
vote
0
answers
71
views
Why できないじゃない isn't double negation? [duplicate]
My question is about a line from a the song "Innocent Arrogance". The relevant verse goes like this:
見せたくないものばかりを
見せないから
大事なものさえも見つからない
綺麗なままでいることはできないじゃない
僕らは 僕らは 進もう
I've marked in bold ...
- 305
2
votes
1
answer
283
views
の - questioning and confirmation
I learned the grammatical structure of の for questioning (and explaining) things a while ago, but the exact meaning and which gender uses it has kind of confused me.
Here are a few varied sentence I'd ...
- 333
10
votes
2
answers
4k
views
Meaning of じゃないんじゃない?
I recently came across the phrase じゃないんじゃない in this sentence:
Clerk: 「でも うちで売{う}ってるアイスじゃないんじゃないかしら。」
For context, some kids are claiming they have a winning popsicle stick but the clerk can't seem ...
- 301
0
votes
1
answer
314
views
Usage of じゃないか when not a tag question or a negative question
This answer had the following translation:
そんなに笑わなくてもいいじゃありませんか。
You don't have to laugh like that.
(Please, don't laugh at me like that!)
I haven't seen じゃありませんか (じゃないか) used like this before....
- 30.8k
2
votes
1
answer
555
views
Is it possible to the negative form of a verb + "n-janai" together to form a tag question?
For instance:
ikenai → ikenai njanai?
tabetakunai → tabetakunai njanai?
tabetakute tamaranai → tabetakute tamaranai njanai?
Note that I'm using njanai, not just janai to create a tag question.
Is ...
- 21
3
votes
1
answer
222
views
How does じゃないか modify hortative in this case?
So far, I have always considered じゃないか to be a tag question meaning "...isn't it?" with varying nuances depending on context.
However, I have seen hortative + じゃないか recently, in this short dialog (A ...
- 201
0
votes
0
answers
715
views
"jan", "janai", "ne", "desu ne" -- the same more or less? [duplicate]
I'm trying to understand how to use "jan". "jan" is a short version of "ja nai", correct? And it also seems to be almost the same as "ne?" and "desu ne?". Is this correct as well? Can I use them ...
- 107
2
votes
1
answer
191
views
Marking questions in a story narration
In English if someone asks a question in a narrative it would go something like:
"Where are you going?" he asked.
but rarely, if ever:
"Where are you going?" he said.
Is the ...
- 30.8k
5
votes
4
answers
2k
views
What is the difference between びっくりした and びっくりするじゃないの
What is the difference between びっくりした and びっくりするじゃないの?
The only thing I can think of is that one is just a general way of saying that something scared you, whilst the other is a way of "blaming" the ...
- 51
5
votes
1
answer
5k
views
Is あれ？ when used like "huh/what?" contracted from something?
I frequently hear 「あれ？」 when people find something that catches their attention, often even when a listening party is not present. It seems to have a similar function to "what?", "what's that?", or "...
- 1,230
10
votes
2
answers
9k
views
How is 〜んじゃない different from 〜じゃない?
Is it possible to say ～んじゃない？ If it is, how it differs from ～じゃない？
In what situation I should use ん/の for it, and what does ん/の express?
Examples:
[~い + ん]
いいんじゃない
行きたいんじゃない
吸えないんじゃない
...
- 2,243
18
votes
4
answers
5k
views
What's the difference between ね and な as tag questions?
What's the difference between ね and な as tag questions?
For example:
そうですね
vs
そうだな
Is there any difference in level of politeness? Does one sound more masculine than the other?
Edit:
The examples ...
- 961