"It's a good car, that" - "That" and "this" at the end of sentences

Question

I was watching an episode of Top Gear in which they talked about Chinese cars and one of the hosts (Jeremy) said the following:

It's a good car, that.

I've also heard this sentence somewhere.

It's a fu***** scam, this is.

I can sort of guess that, that in the first sentence is referencing the car, but why say it again? Is it for emphasis?

Could anyone explain how this works?

Welcome to EL&U. Adding 'this' and 'that' at the end of a phrase is a part of certain British dialects, particularly Northern England. I am not certain if it is confined to Yorkshire. — Nigel J, Jan 27, 2018 at 14:46
That would explain why i've only heard it in British TV Shows and videos/movies. Thank you very much! — Vasu, Jan 27, 2018 at 14:55
Apologies. I misread your rep. I see you are a seasoned user :) — Nigel J, Jan 27, 2018 at 14:58

Edwin Ashworth · Accepted Answer · 2018-02-09 16:30:45Z

3

Those are statement tags. Those two are very informal, and they are used with positive statements.

They invite the listener to agree or comment.

Edwin Ashworth

80.6k11 gold badges150 silver badges251 bronze badges

answered Feb 9, 2018 at 12:13

user280597

1

Hello, Patriot. Thanks for visiting ELU. Have you a supporting reference to add to improve your answer? Unsupported answers are not considered desirable on ELU; they come across as mere opinion (and sometimes are).
– Edwin Ashworth
Feb 9, 2018 at 12:30
Hi Edwin! Thanks for the welcome. Yes, I can provide support for my answer. If I state an opinion, I will always make that clear.
– user280597
Feb 9, 2018 at 13:21

Add a comment |

1 Answer 1