нели

Tag Questions

Level 2Sounds Like neli

Add нели to a sentence when you expect the listener to agree: Убаво е, нели? (It is nice, isn't it?)

How It Works

Нели turns a statement into a question that expects the listener to agree. English uses many different tags for this, but Macedonian needs only one word:

  • Убаво е, нели? (It is nice, isn't it?)
  • Ќе дојдеш, нели? (You will come, won't you?)
  • Ти си Марко, нели? (You are Marko, right?)

Нели stays the same after any person or tense. It also works after a negative sentence: Не си гладен, нели? (You are not hungry, are you?)

Нели can also go at the start. Нели зборуваш англиски? means Don't you speak English? You expect the answer to be yes.

Do not use дали as a tag. Дали starts a real yes or no question, when you do not know the answer; see Yes or No Questions. Also keep нели apart from не ли. Не ли sounds surprised, as in You are NOT coming?

Examples (6)

  1. Убаво е, нели?

    It is nice, isn't it?

    Нели goes at the end after a comma.

  2. Ќе дојдеш, нели?

    You will come, won't you?

    The same нели works with the future.

  3. Ти си Марко, нели?

    You are Marko, right?

    The speaker expects the answer yes.

  4. Нели зборуваш англиски?

    You speak English, don't you?

    Нели can also start the question.

  5. Знаеш, нели?

    You know, don't you?

    A short tag after a short sentence.

  6. Не си гладен, нели?

    You are not hungry, are you?

    Нели does not change after a negative.

Common Mistakes

  • Using дали as a tag at the end.

    Ќе дојдеш, дали?
    Ќе дојдеш, нели?

    Дали starts an open question. To ask for agreement at the end, use нели.

  • Using не ли when you only want agreement.

    Не ли зборуваш англиски?
    Нели зборуваш англиски?

    Не ли sounds surprised, as if the listener refuses. Нели simply checks what you think is true.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

нелиLevel 2Tag Questions

Learn This First

Tag questions build on yes-or-no questions.

Words in This Pattern

нели