ne?
NEH — short, risinginterjectionColloquial
A German slang term. Browse all German slang.
What it means
The German tag question: 'isn't it', 'right?', 'you know?'. Tacked onto a statement to invite agreement, and used far more densely than any English equivalent.
It is the single clearest regional marker in German speech. Ne in the north and most of the centre, gell or gelle across the south, wa in Berlin, oder in the southwest and Switzerland, woll in the Sauerland, nich in parts of the north. Speakers rarely notice they have one until they move.
Examples with translations
Das war doch gestern, ne?
That was yesterday, wasn't it?
Ist ganz schön teuer geworden, ne?
Got pretty expensive, hasn't it?
Where it comes from
A reduction of 'nicht wahr?', 'not true?', via 'nich wahr' and 'nech' to a single syllable. The southern gell has a parallel history from 'gelten', 'to hold true'.
Other forms
- Spellings and variants:
- nech, wa, gell, woll