nê

adverb

As interrogative particle: "isn't that the case?"; also used with emphatic effect.

OriginAfrikaans nè →
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Meanings

adverb
  1. South AfricacolloquialAs interrogative particle: "isn't that the case?"; also used with emphatic effect.

    No, we like this place, exotic for us whites, nê.

    2012, Nadine Gordimer, No Time Like the Present, Bloomsbury, published 2013, page 21
    1 more example

    Then you are not come as a recruit to our ranks, but have already ducked your head to a bullet, nê?

    1900, Harold Blore, An Imperial Light Horseman

Origin

  1. Afrikaansnè
  2. Englishnê

From Afrikaans nè, probably short for newaar (“isn't that true?”), colloquial variant of nie waar.

More words from Afrikaans

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

nê. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/n%C3%AA

MLA

“nê.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/n%C3%AA. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nê,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/n%C3%AA.

Source: nê on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.