# Is it gramatically correct to use 'no' at the end of a question in English? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 10, 2017, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-gramatically-correct-to-use-no-at-the-end-of-a-question-in-english/786321 "2017-05-10T22:50:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2017, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-gramatically-correct-to-use-no-at-the-end-of-a-question-in-english/786321/21 "2017-05-11T09:30:28Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > 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. So you’re saying it’s a Spanish Inquisition… ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2017, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-gramatically-correct-to-use-no-at-the-end-of-a-question-in-english/786321/22 "2017-05-11T09:32:18Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > 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. Thanks for the info. The only other language I know well is Mandarin, and they essentially don’t have this problem. If you were asked “You don’t want to sit here?” you can answer with “want”, “don’t want” or “correct / right” and in all cases the meaning is clear. If you _wanted_ to be ambiguous, you could answer with just the negation character (不), but that is not a response I’ve heard to that style of question. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2017, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-gramatically-correct-to-use-no-at-the-end-of-a-question-in-english/786321/23 "2017-05-11T09:34:06Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > 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. Slightly different, I think, but similar - ending with ‘no?’ seems more like an explicit question, whereas ending with ‘yes?’ seems a bit like just asking for acknowledgement that the audience is keeping up. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2017, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-gramatically-correct-to-use-no-at-the-end-of-a-question-in-english/786321/24 "2017-05-11T09:35:15Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > So you’re saying it’s a Spanish Inquisition… I didn’t expect it, but yes. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2017, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-gramatically-correct-to-use-no-at-the-end-of-a-question-in-english/786321/25 "2017-05-11T09:57:12Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > 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. Continuing the hijack… (since the OP has been answered, amirite?)… My favorite chapter title is from a book called _Wild New York_, about where to see wildlife within the five boroughs. The chapter on shorebirds and wetland birds (Jamaica Bay, etc.) is **Egrets, We Have a Few**. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2017, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-gramatically-correct-to-use-no-at-the-end-of-a-question-in-english/786321/26 "2017-05-11T12:22:05Z")
Japanese has a similar structure so that you can make a statement and [add a particle](http://www.japaneseprofessor.com/lessons/beginning/the-sentence-ending-particles-ne-and-yo/) at the end that changes it into a semi-question (where you _expect_ the listener to agree with you, but aren’t 100% sure.) ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2017, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-gramatically-correct-to-use-no-at-the-end-of-a-question-in-english/786321/27 "2017-05-11T16:35:20Z")
It is grammatically incorrect? My mother says “No.” Heh. > [@Colibri](#): > > 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. As do I, and I’m neither surrounded by New Yorkers, or native Spanish speakers. I do, however, work closely with many Euorpeans, including especially folks from the UK, Sweden, and Poland. Curious, no? ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2017, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-gramatically-correct-to-use-no-at-the-end-of-a-question-in-english/786321/28 "2017-05-11T22:38:49Z")
I am not sure how to write it, but in a statement that is turned into a question by adding “no” there would normally be an extra long pause and not a comma before the “no”. No? I guess that this is why the OP used a semicolon. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2017, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-gramatically-correct-to-use-no-at-the-end-of-a-question-in-english/786321/29 "2017-05-11T23:27:55Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > I am not sure how to write it, but in a statement that is turned into a question by adding “no” there would normally be an extra long pause and not a comma before the “no”. No? > > I guess that this is why the OP used a semicolon. If I were doing it stylistically to indicate a long pause, I’d use an em-dash. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2017, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-gramatically-correct-to-use-no-at-the-end-of-a-question-in-english/786321/30 "2017-05-11T23:30:25Z")
> [@Tranquilis](#): > > It is grammatically incorrect? My mother says “No.” > Heh. > > As do I, and I’m neither surrounded by New Yorkers, or native Spanish speakers. I do, however, work closely with many Euorpeans, including especially folks from the UK, Sweden, and Poland. Curious, no? To be sure, I grew up in a Polish-speaking community, and it’s pretty normal in Polish to end questions looking for agreement/affirmation with something like _no nie_ or _nie_ (literally, “well no?” and “no?”) to indicate what is also expressed in English by the phrase “isn’t it?” so it wouldn’t surprise me if that influence has crept into the local dialect in such a way that it is used more commonly than in other areas of the English speaking world. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2017, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-gramatically-correct-to-use-no-at-the-end-of-a-question-in-english/786321/31 "2017-05-12T00:06:09Z")
Whether it is grammatically correct, I have only ever associated it with foreign speakers, or people affecting a foreign accent or manner of speaking. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2017, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-gramatically-correct-to-use-no-at-the-end-of-a-question-in-english/786321/32 "2017-05-12T00:17:07Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > Whether it is grammatically correct, I have only ever associated it with foreign speakers, or people affecting a foreign accent or manner of speaking. It’s common, and besides it’s not like English is so pure and never borrows from other languages, even if that is the origin. I use it all the time. Do I have to confess that I’m actually thinking “_non_” when I use it? 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2017, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-gramatically-correct-to-use-no-at-the-end-of-a-question-in-english/786321/33 "2017-05-12T01:12:30Z")
It carries a certain tone that I can’t quite convey, one that is different from “isn’t it?” or similar. As for it being proper grammar: I would not use it in most places where proper grammar is “required.” It’s too informal. But, grammatically, it’s no different than putting any other question word at the end of a sentence, e.g. “huh?” or “right?” or “eh?” I’d guess they’d be called interjections, but I don’t know for sure. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2017, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-gramatically-correct-to-use-no-at-the-end-of-a-question-in-english/786321/34 "2017-05-12T04:17:34Z")
> [@femmejean](#): > > **Is it gramatically correct to use ‘no’ at the end of a question in English?** > > 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?_ I so wish I were the first responder, so I could say “No!..no?” I still remember a cartoon when I was six. A cliché Frenchman asked “You are Courageous Cat, no?” And the answer was “I am Courageous Cat, yes!” The “No” at the end of the sentence was played for laughs. Ah, looook how humourooose those frrrenchies are, no? ---
**Author:** ![HipGnosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/76d3ee/32.png) [@HipGnosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HipGnosis)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2017, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-gramatically-correct-to-use-no-at-the-end-of-a-question-in-english/786321/35 "2017-05-13T03:05:34Z")
I’ve heard it often. My ex and her family did it ALL the time. They are from central Wisconsin (USA), and of partially french heritage. It was used casually: “Are you going bowling next Thursday night or no?” Not a smidge of pause. I took it to generally mean: I will accept a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. I never got use to it, but I learned not to question or ‘correct’ her or them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-gramatically-correct-to-use-no-at-the-end-of-a-question-in-english/786321.md?page=1)