ねisn't it?; right?; okay?
ね turns to the other person and asks them to go along with you: to agree, to confirm, to say okay. English uses "isn't it?", "right?" and "okay?".
How to form it
Sentence + ね
Plain or polite: 寒いね, 寒いですね, 行きますね. A noun or a な-adjective usually takes だ or です first: 休みだね, 静かですね.
Sharing what you both notice
Small talk runs on this: the weather, the food, the day you have just had. The other person is there too, so there is nothing to tell them.
This view is beautiful, isn't it?
This soup is a little spicy, isn't it?
Today was fun, wasn't it?
The usual answer is そうですね, or the same word back with ね. A suggestion you like gets いいですね.
It's hot today, isn't it?
It is. It really is hot.
Would you like to see a movie on Saturday?
That sounds good.
Checking that you have it right
九時ですか asks because you don't know. 九時ですね says you think you know, and expects a yes. Shop staff say your order back to you this way.
We're meeting at nine tomorrow, right?
Two coffees, please.
Certainly. So that's two coffees.
Requests, and what you are about to do
After て or てください, ね softens a request, like "okay?". With something you are about to do, it lets them know and checks that they don't mind.
Please come again, won't you?
Send the photos tomorrow, okay?
I'm going to open the window, okay?
ね, よ or よね?
The curry at this restaurant is spicy, isn't it?
You are both eating it.
The curry at this restaurant is spicy, so be aware.
They haven't tried it. You are telling them.
The curry at this restaurant is spicy, right?
You have both eaten here before.
ね: they can see it or know it too. よ: they don't know it yet. よね: what you think or remember, checked with them.
So ね doesn't belong on your own news, which they weren't there for. With it, they are likely to hear a sentence about themselves.
You saw a film yesterday, didn't you?
Something they know: their film, or one you saw together.
そうですね and そうですねえ
Said briskly, そうですね agrees. Drawn out, it is "let me see": time to think before you answer.
What would you like for lunch?
Let me see… I'd like ramen.
Close neighbours
でしょう・だろうN5
Also "right?", but it leans on them: surely you know this. With someone above you, ですね is safer.
Tomorrow's meeting starts at ten, right?
Check yourself
1You want to tell a classmate what you did on Sunday. Which one does that?
Choose an answer to see why.
2A neighbor says this to you in the elevator. What do you answer?
今日は
Choose an answer to see why.
More detail
At the start of a sentence, ねえ calls for attention, like "hey".
Hey, open this box.
In casual talk ね also comes mid-sentence, to keep them with you: 昨日ね、駅でね、….
Without だ, a comment like きれいね is traditionally women's speech: today mostly older women, and women in fiction.
More sentences
It's quiet here, isn't it?
This park is quiet in the morning, isn't it?
We're taking the same train back, right?
Tanaka is coming too, right?
Tomorrow's meeting is at ten, right?
This route is shorter, right?
Tanaka is coming too, isn't he?
This place is pricey, isn't it?
I know, right?