In English, we use “Question Tag” when we want confirmation from another person about some activity.
e.g.
You will come to the movie, won’t you?
She did not drink milk, did she?

In Marathi also we have the concept of “question tag”. But in Marathi, we just add word “ना”(nA) to normal sentence and pronounce it in the tone of asking the question.

Examples

You are coming -> तू येतो आहेस (tU yeto Ahes.)
You are coming, aren’t you? -> तू येतो आहेस ना ?(tU yeto Ahes nA ?)

She did not speak. -> ती बोलली नाही ( tI bolalI nAhI )
She did not speak, did she? -> ती बोलली नाही ना ?( tI bolalI nAhI nA )

He will do. -> तो करेल. (to karel )
He will do, won’t he? -> तो करेल ना? (to karel nA ?)

Compared to English, adding a question tag is very easy in Marathi. Just one word, irrespective of tense-subject-multiplicity, etc. Because of this, many Marathi and Hindi speaking people follow this habit of adding ना (nA), even while speaking English. some times they add “no” (as if a short form of actual question tag )

So you may hear a few Indians saying:-
You are coming na?
You won’t come na?
You will come, no?
Etc. 🙂

Listen examples in this lesson

Add a question tag