n'est-ce pas
English edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from French n’est-ce pas ? (“isn't it?”).
Pronunciation edit
Phrase edit
n'est-ce pas
- (chiefly humorous) Used to form tag questions.
- 1935, Thomas Wolfe, Of Time and the River, page 763:
- I know him well, we artists have the common touch, n'est-ce pas?
- 2003, Richard Pevear, Larissa Volokhonsky, The Adolescent, translation of original by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, published 1875, page 527:
- It is just a little quarrel of two most worthy women, n'est-ce pas
Anagrams edit
French edit
Etymology edit
Literally, “is it not?”.
Pronunciation edit
Phrase edit
- Used as an expression of affirmation after a statement, often translated into English as a tag question.
- Bizarre, n’est-ce pas ? ― Strange, isn't it?
Further reading edit
- “n'est-ce pas”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.