eller hur? / inte sant?

Or (Hur)?/Inte Sant?

Level 5

Add a short phrase like 'eller hur?' or 'inte sant?' to the end of a statement to turn it into a question seeking agreement.

How It Works

Swedish commonly asks for confirmation by adding a fixed phrase to a statement.

  • eller hur? works with positive and negative statements: Du kommer, eller hur? and Du har inte glömt det, eller hur?.
  • inte sant? usually follows a positive statement: Det är fint, inte sant?. This is a usage tendency, not an absolute ban after a negative statement.
  • va? is informal and conversational: Vi ses imorgon, va?.

These tags do not agree with the preceding verb, subject or tense. Intonation and context matter: a confirmation request can be friendly, doubtful or insistent.

A Separate Confirming Question
You can also follow the statement with a full yes/no question: Hon talar svenska, gör hon inte det?. Here gör ... det refers back to speaking Swedish. This is verb-first question order, not verb-second statement order. Swedish does not require an English-style polarity-changing tag after every statement. Repeating a finite verb in a suitable confirming question is not categorically ungrammatical; choose a clear construction for the intended context.

Examples (5)

  1. Det är en vacker dag, eller hur?

    It's a beautiful day, isn't it?

    Word by Word: It is a beautiful day, or how?

    'eller hur?' is a common confirmation tag, used here to seek agreement about a positive statement.

  2. Du har inte glömt nycklarna, eller hur?

    You haven't forgotten the keys, have you?

    Word by Word: You have not forgotten the-keys, or how?

    This example shows the versatility of 'eller hur?', which works perfectly after a negative statement as well.

  3. Mötet är klockan tio, inte sant?

    The meeting is at ten o'clock, right?

    Word by Word: The-meeting is clock ten, not true?

    Inte sant? asks for agreement with the positive statement about the meeting time.

  4. Vi ses imorgon, va?

    See you tomorrow, yeah?

    Word by Word: We see-each-other tomorrow, huh?

    'va?' is a very informal tag used in casual speech among friends.

  5. Hon talar svenska, gör hon inte det?

    She speaks Swedish, doesn't she?

    Word by Word: She speaks Swedish, does she not that?

    Gör ... det refers back to talar svenska in a following confirming question. A fixed tag, eller hur?, is another option.

Common Mistakes

  • Using an infinitive in the confirming question.

    Hon talar svenska, göra hon inte det?
    Hon talar svenska, gör hon inte det?

    The following question needs finite gör, not infinitive göra. The pronoun det refers back to the action.

  • Using a plural adjective in the fixed expression inte sant.

    Det är fint, inte sanna?
    Det är fint, inte sant?

    The confirmation phrase is fixed as inte sant. It does not change to match a plural person or thing mentioned in the statement.

How It Connects

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

eller hur? / inte sant?Level 5Or (Hur)?/Inte Sant?

Learn This First

To learn Swedish tag questions, you need to understand how basic questions are formed and be familiar with the specific particles 'hur' and 'inte' which form the basis of common tags like 'eller hur?' and 'inte sant?'.