I hear this mostly from foreign speakers when making somewhat of a statement and a question. I’m not anything close to a grammar nazi and it doesn’t irritate me when I hear it but I’ve always wondered, is it proper English?
e.g. It’s quite abnormal to become aroused by your parents, even though we do agree with you that they are well dressed, posh, nurturing, liberal, and attractive white females; no?
It’s fine.
Sorry to dive-bomb in here, but that semicolon “should be” a comma–that’s how much it lives comfortably within one sentence. Although others will chime in no doubt. Amirite?
Hell, for the same purpose the Germans end sentences “…, or?” with the interogative ellipsis hanging like the scent of ripe melons.
It’s certainly unusual to hear it from a native speaker. You’re more likely to hear “wouldn’t you say?” or “don’t you think?” and I guess it would usually be a separate sentence. For example, “All humans breathe oxygen. Wouldn’t you say?”
“No?” in this context is really just an informal way of saying the same thing. It’s perfectly comprehensible, so I don’t see why would be considered incorrect.
I think the use of “…no?” in that way is fine in informal speech. I use it myself occasionally, as shorthand for “…isn’t it?” or something similar. I’d say frequent use might indicate that somebody is a non-native speaker.
But your example sentence is horrible, no?
I think that you intend the “…no” question to be:
… and into that question you’ve inserted a horribly long concessive clause that makes it hard to keep track of what you’re saying and what you’re asking.
But perhaps you are trying to make the concessive clause itself into a question?
If you intend the second meaning, then I hate that sentence even more.
I don’t think it’s particularly unusual. It’s not as common as “isn’t it” or any of the equivalents, but it’s not jarring to me, at least. I would guess its use varies wildly across dialects, no?
Maybe it depends on where in the English speaking world you are from, but I would be tempted to go a little further.
Living in England, I can’t recall ever hearing a native speaker use “…no?” in this way. It always seems to be “…don’t they?” or “…isn’t it?” or “…don’t you agree?” etc.
Yeah, it may be a dialect thing.
Come to think of it. I’m sure it’s more common in Scotland, but I could be making that up.
I’m a native speaker who uses it all the time. Maybe it’s because I’m from New York, or maybe it’s because I live among Spanish speakers, but it doesn’t seem in the least unusual.
I cerainly have never heard this commonly. “Eh” usually serves this purpose, especially in Canada, eh?
I don’t think many Americans use the word “no” at the end to indicate an interrogatory asking for agreement. It happens, but not often.
I think it’s probably much more likely that something closer to the French “n’est-çe pas?” would be used.
Hey, you’re one of us!
It’s the same as putting “yes?” at the end of a sentence, yes?
I think if it as a way of leading someone to agree with you.
Well, he couldn’t STAY in NYC. All you guys have is pigeons! What decent ornithologist limits himself to pigeons?!
There’s a lot of great birding in NYC, at Jamaica Bay, Pelham Bay Park, Central Park, and other places. I saw my first Snowy Owl on the roof of my neighbors house in the Bronx.
I’m also in England, I think I’ve encountered it a little - mostly, it seems to me to be an import from Spanish, but it’s perfectly understandable when I encounter it.
Unrelated to this (but still a context in which an English sentence can end with ‘no’) is the form “We’re going to the beach, sunshine or no” - that’s fairly common in my experience, but as I say, a different thing to the interrogative ‘no’.
I actually use it a lot but that’s probably because I spend most of my time speaking English with people for whom it is not their first language.
One thing I’ve heard, I’m not sure if it’s true* is that English uniquely has a problem with negative questions – either a yes or no, or any other short response can be ambiguous. So there’s perhaps reason for us not to import this style of question.
The problem exists in other languages, with each language having its own solutions. The French invented si to indicate positive response to a negative question, but they often complement it by the explicit response to make sure that they’re understood. In Spanish and Catalan, if you just answer yes or no the other party is likely to ask “yes/no but to what?”, so it’s the same problem as in English without needing to travel very far abroad.
Proper BE? AE? Australian English? Indian English? I have read sentence constructions in Indian books that I consider odd from an AE perspective, but since this went through a Publishing house, and was written by a scholarly guy, apparently it’s a regional difference.
British English has Long the “isn’t it?” clause at the end (Lovely weather, isn’t it?*), so saying “…no?” with tone indicating a hesitation serves similar purpose: you’re making a Statement, but don’t want to come across too thunderous, so you add the hesitancy and your conservation Partner can disagree or agree and continue.
There’s a wizard living next to you getting mail? Cool! 