isn’t it
Structure
- Phrase + じゃない・か
[じゃ is the contraction of では・ではないか can be used in more formal situations]
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When じゃないか is too casual, ではないか will be used instead. Despite being more formal, this may sound a bit stiff at times, so is best only used when politeness is expected.
What about ではないですか or ではありませんか? I don’t see them mentioned at all in this lesson. Can they be used for the same meaning in contexts that call for ます forms?
Turns out that I should have read the examples:
あなたのお母さんは九時までに帰ってきてと言っていたじゃないですか。
But then shouldn’t this form be added to the “Structure” component in the lesson with the casual/polite toggle as usual?
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I’m also surprised that this message seems to imply that じゃないですか is more casual than ではないか. I would have thought that the です forms would always be more polite than just ない.
There is more than one axis.
じゃないか is more casual (less polite) than じゃないですか because it doesn’t use a politeness marker.
じゃないか is more casual (less formal) than ではないか because the じゃ is a spoken contraction of では.
Right but I thought that the では → じゃ contraction was common enough in a lot of registers that it didn’t modulate the formality too much compared to plopping です at the end. I always thought of it a bit like “he’s” versus “he is” in English, technically in most contexts it always sounds a bit more formal to avoid the contraction, but it’s not like using the contraction would be seen as absolutely casual either.
I guess I need to consume a lot more of native content to get a good feel for it.
I think it’s pretty similar to he’s/he is. It’s just that how important that distinction is depends on the situation. In a normal spoken conversation, using the standard contractions is normal and expected but so is the appropriate level of politeness and respect and so on. Being slightly more formal every once in a while is not a big deal. On the other hand, in a scientific paper or in a wikipedia article, no politeness or respect are expected but a formal written style absolutely is. Slipping into casual speech can well look completely out of place.
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Makes sense, thank you for the help as always!
It’s super confusing that de wa nai ka is the polite example, but it’s not accepted as a correct answer. They only except desu.
I’m noticing all the examples with いadj or verbs before じゃないか add 「ん」, but なadj and nouns don’t. Is this a rule? I don’t see it mentioned in the structure section.