Checking with you
Tags that pull the listener into agreement, plus tte koto? to check you've understood what they said.
desho?
polite deshou?right? (surely you agree)
でしょ？ でしょう？
A rising tag that expects agreement, meaning 'see, I told you' or 'you know what I mean'. Everyone uses it in casual speech.
kore ii desho?
This is nice, right?
これいいでしょ？
kore ii deshou?
This is nice, isn't it?
これいいでしょう？
With a falling tone, polite deshou means 'probably' (ame deshou). In casual speech, guess with tabun, kamo or to omou. A bare final darou and the tag daro? lean masculine, while nan darou / dou darou (I wonder) are used by everyone. With people above you, a rising deshou? can sound pushy; desu yo ne? (kore ii desu yo ne?) is the safer check.
ja nai?
polite ja nai desu kaisn't it? (I think so)
じゃない？ じゃないですか
Offers your view softly as a rising question (ii ja nai? = that's nice, no?). It attaches directly to nouns and adjectives (tanaka-san ja nai?, kirei ja nai?, ii ja nai?). After verbs, use n ja nai? (ame furu n ja nai?).
are, ano hito tanaka-san ja nai?
Wait, isn't that Tanaka over there?
あれ、あの人田中さんじゃない？
are, ano hito tanaka-san ja nai desu ka?
Oh, isn't that Tanaka-san over there?
あれ、あの人田中さんじゃないですか？
Tone decides the meaning: rising ame ja nai? = isn't it rain?, while flat ame ja nai = it isn't rain. After an i-adjective it is always this tag, never negation, because the negative is -kunai.
Learn alongside: desho?, janLearn first: -kunai / -ja nai
jan
polite ja nai desu kasee? / isn't it
じゃん じゃないですか
Contracted ja nai said with a falling tone. It presents something as obvious or newly noticed (ii jan = hey, that's nice) and isn't a real question.
kore ii jan
Hey, this is nice!
これいいじゃん
kore ii ja nai desu ka
This is nice, isn't it!
これいいじゃないですか
It spread to Tokyo from Yokohama and the surrounding region and is now heard nationwide; Kansai speakers say yan. With verbs it means 'I told you': datte itta jan (I told you so!). In polite speech, asserting ...ja nai desu ka about things the listener can't know sounds presumptuous.
tte koto?
polite tte koto desu kayou mean...? / so...
ってこと？ ってことですか
Restates what the other person said to check you understood, which is vital for a learner. It attaches to the plain form.
ashita wa muri tte koto?
So you mean tomorrow's no good?
明日は無理ってこと？
ashita wa muri tte koto desu ka?
So you mean tomorrow's no good?
明日は無理ってことですか？
sou iu koto? (is that what you mean?) works as a reply on its own. to iu koto desu ka is the more formal polite option, for meetings and email.