When to use nah or right in a sentence

Question

When I was chatting with my friend, as a part of our conversation I used a phrase. "You have laptop nah." He replied, first try to change your English, it sounds ridiculous, using words nah, right.

To give a brief insight of the context, here is the conversation between me (A) and my friend (B).

A: Hi, is your headset working, the other day you had a problem.

B: I found, that the problem was with my system. I tried with the new headset on the same system and it still had voice issues.

A: I think, you have laptop nah.

B: First, stop using words like nah, right. That sounds stupid. No offense.

I have two questions here:

• Am I wrong in the above conversation?
• When to use nah, right in the sentences?

Answer 1

According to Some Aspects of the History of Modern Hindi "Nahîn" "No", "Not" by L. A. Schwarzschild, the Hindi interjection nahîn (and Marathi nahi, Gujerati nahi(m), etc.):

is used as an equivalent of "no" (though it may serve also as a negative adverb), and it represents an enlargement of the old Indo-European negative particile, Sanskrit na.

The question asker's name, Raghav, is of Sanskrit origin, so he and his friend are probably Indian. I've not heard nah used in this way, and it sounds like colloquial Indian English. If so, this nah may be well understood when talking to other Indians but not in other countries. It may be that your friend thinks it is too informal and isn't appropriate to be used in a professional context.

You can ask your friend exactly what he thinks, there may be some acceptable uses. I would advise against using it internationally, because it may be misunderstood.

---

An answer on Yahoo! Anwsers! explains appending "na" turns a statement into a question, and is Hinglish (or colloquial Hindi English), and can also be used like the English "right?":

Adding na in the ending of any statement makes it a question. eg

Statement: "Tu Calcutta se hai" Question: "Tu Calcutta se hai na ?"

Translation Statement :"You are from Calcutta" Question: "You are from Calcutta na ?"

I use it many times when I chat Hinglish. But be aware using it formally since this is informal spoken form and not expected to be practiced in written form except IM's chats etc.

English equivalent for na would be "right"

Eg " You are from Calcutta right ?"

In the statement "Sorry na" speaker expects the reply or an attention from you "sorry na"could be explained in many ways.

eg.

1. I'm sorry, Is that ok?
2. I'm sorry, are you alright now ?
3. I'm sorry, Is it fine with you now ?
4. I'm sorry, are you happy now ?

---

According to a blogpost called Indian English – Read it, na! says na finds its way to the end of many Indian English sentences:

Isn’t the genesis or the logic behind Indian English fascinating “na”? Tell me “no”.. My all time favorite is the linguistic interchangeability of no and na and how it discreetly finds its place at the end of each sentence. Did you laugh, na? Amazing, na? I meant our Indian English.

---

Jason Baldridge wrote in Linguistic and Social Characteristics of Indian English :

When Indians use English, it is often a mixture of English, Hindi, and other languages. B.C., A.S., and S.Singh called this way of speaking kichiri (2.2.3). Kichiri is a meal which is composed of several random ingredients -- a rather accurate description of the way Indians often talk to one another. Even in "pure" Indian English, many Indian terms slip in frequently. Some expressions such as general mai (in general) and ek minute (one minute) are prevalent in Indian English. N.G. mentions the Gujarati expression take care karje (do take care) in 1.1.5. These mixtures come quite naturally when one is acquainted with two or more languages. ... Her use of nahi (no) in 1.1.2, and S.Singh's use of kya (what) in 2.1.1 are typical of the sorts of ways Hindi terms are employed.

...

He says, "Yeah, like this guy Gotham felt like when he went back, no?" This use of no (and the expression isn't it in the same manner) stems from the use of na in Hindi, which is exemplified by N.G. in 1.1.6, "...take care karje appli ker hai na?" This could be roughly translated as "...take care karje can be applied, can't it?"

Some more discussion can be found in Google Books, and here's an example in literature.

Answer 2

As per what actually "na" means (is "no", "not"), it's usage at the end of a statement makes it a "isn't it" question.

For example;

• You are from India, na?
• You are from India, aren't you?

Answer 3

"Nah" is a colloquial form of the word "no". As in: "Do you need a pencil?" "Nah, I've already got one."

It's fine to use it in conversation. It is not acceptable in formal writing.

It doesn't make sense to me in the context that you used it above.

Answer 4

You'd do better asking your friend. I have no idea what "laptop nah" is, so if I read that, I'd be unhappy because I'd be forced to ask what it means. There are no rules for personal conversations other than what you and your friends are comfortable with. If they can't make themselves write clearly enough to communicate, then I'd wonder why, if I were you, but now we're in the realm of Dear Prudence and not English Usage. Maybe you can find something about this in a past Miss Manners column.

[EDIT: Check out Dilbert for December 4, 2012, in which the CEO uses "Nah".]

Answer 5

The use of "na" or "nah" has been addressed above, but the usage of "right" wasn't directly addressed. Side note, you've tagged this as subcontinental-English, but the question seems to be regarding whether this is acceptable in American/British English, so that is what I'm addressing.

(Immigrant here with native grasp of English as I moved when I was 5).

Using the word "right" as a question or verification is perfectly normal in colloquial English. It is shorthand to say "is [the rest of my statement] correct?". For a more formal alternative, one could specifically use "correct".

The trouble, though, is with the rest of your question.

1. The use of "I think" here is nonstandard and unnecessary. When you ask a question, it is implied that this question comes from you, and that it originated as a thought :-)

   However, if you mean that you have a hunch that he is using a laptop, then there are other ways of saying it, for example: "Let me guess" (informal), "Can you confirm if" (formal).

2. "You have laptop" is missing an article. Generally, unless you are discussing a specific item, you'll use the indefinite article "a"/"an". Or, you could use a possessive "your" if you know the person has a laptop.

3. As this is a question, it needs a question mark. Stylistically, a question mark can be omitted if the meaning is clear, especially in informal communication with a friend. But when there is a question word like "right", it is best to keep the question mark.

Quick note - it seems you are confirming if he's using a laptop because you want to help him troubleshoot the issue with a headset, and the steps for troubleshooting may be different for a laptop vs a desktop computer. The question should be whether he's using a laptop. But it is acceptable to ask whether he possesses a laptop; the use of the laptop is implied.

So, here are some ways the question could be properly rephrased that use the word "right":

• You're using a/your laptop, right?
• You're on a/your laptop, right?
• You have a laptop, right?
• Let me guess, you're using a/your laptop, right?
• It sounds like you're using a/your laptop, is that right/correct? (more formal)

One more consideration - "right" tends to sound informal, and is used when you're making an assumption that you want the person to confirm. If the context is more formal, or you would like to ask a direct question without assumptions, here are some ways to phrase the question:

• Can you confirm if you're using a laptop?
• Are you testing this headset on a laptop?
• Are you using a laptop?

Hope this helps!

I know this is 10 years old, but maybe someone might stumble onto this question as I just did...