n'est-ce pas

1 9.9

A short French phrase added at the end of a sentence to ask if someone agrees

idiom
/nɛs pɑ/

: ¿verdad?

The sun is shining brightly today, n'est-ce pas?

Examples

I mean, that would have been dreadfully recherché, n'est-ce pas?

Mildred Pierce (1945)
Your cabin is next to Madame Doyle's, n'est-ce pas?

Death on the Nile (1978)
- Who told you that? - Never mind, but it is the truth, n'est-ce pas?

Evil Under the Sun (1982)
C'est extraordinaire, n'est-ce pas?

Death on the Nile (1978)
This painting is stunning, n'est-ce pas?
You're joining us for dinner, n'est-ce pas?

Synonyms

init

vsn'est-ce pas

9.9

A casual word at the end of a sentence that asks if someone agrees

is a French origin tag used in English to ask for confirmation

is you is or is you ain't

vsn'est-ce pas

Informal

9.9

A casual question asking if something is true or if someone will do something

is a short foreign tag used to seek brief agreement

Surface Forms

n'est-ce pas main

Morphology

n'est-ce + pas

The phrase is a direct French tag question literally composed of negation + copula + demonstrative (roughly ‘is it not so?’), so if a learner knows the French constituents and basic French grammar the meaning maps closely to English 'isn't it?'. However the components are not English words and the negation/inversion pattern requires knowledge of French syntax, so the sense is not fully predictable to an English-only B1 learner. Therefore the expression is only partially transparent.

Etymology

N'est-ce pas is a short French question used in English to ask for agreement, meaning 'isn't it?'. Its parts n', est, ce, pas give the simple idea 'is this not so', so people add it at the end of a sentence to check for agreement.