Speakable Japanese

How to Say "Right?" in Japanese: Confirming Information (...desu yo ne)

Hello! Your long adventure with 'Speakable Japanese' has finally reached its last lesson. You have already mastered basic Japanese grammar and learned to logically express your intentions and thoughts. To conclude, we will master the strongest expression of empathy, which combines the previously learned 'ね' and 'よ'—'〜ですよね'. By mastering it, you can make your speech more emotionally rich and enhance the feeling of unity with your conversation partner. Well then, let's open the final door and bring your Japanese to perfection!

🎯 Lesson Goal

Learn to add 「ですよね」 to the end of a sentence to express confidence that your conversation partner shares your opinion, and to insistently seek agreement or confirmation!

Step 1 Discover

Let's look at how this is used in a real conversation to confirm a shared feeling.

👱‍♀️
Emma

ああ、お腹すいた！

(Aa, onaka suita! - Ah, I'm hungry!)

🧑‍🦱
Kenji

本当ですね。仕事の後のご飯は美味しいですよね！

(Hontou desu ne. Shigoto no ato no gohan wa oishiidesu yo ne!- That's true. Food after work is delicious,isn't it!)

💡

Did you notice?

Kenji didn't just use "desu ne" (seeking agreement). He used "desu yo ne" to strongly confirm that Emma must feel the exact same way about how good food tastes after work!

Step 2 The Pattern

Here is the structure for the strongest expression of empathy and confirmation.

Basic Chunk

ですよね。

( desu yo ne.)

🔑 Key Point: The fusion of assertion (よ) and empathy (ね)

By combining '〜ですよ' (providing information) and '〜ですね' (seeking agreement), you simultaneously demonstrate confidence in your own opinion and strong empathy for your partner: "I think this way, and you surely feel the same, right?".

🌟 Difference between ね, よ, and ですよね

Step 3 Pattern Practice

Try to translate these sentences in your head. Notice how "desu yo ne" changes the nuance!

  • Task 1 After all, summer is the best, isn't it?!

    やっぱり、夏は一番 ですよね！

    (Yappari, natsu wa ichiban desu yo ne!)

  • Task 2 This movie was really interesting, wasn't it?

    面白い映画でした よね！

    (Omoshiroi eiga deshita yo ne!)

  • Task 3 Our meeting is at 3 o'clock, right?

    会議は3時からでした よね？

    (Kaigi wa san-ji kara deshita yo ne?)

Step 4 Make It Yours!

This is the most important step! Try to express feelings you want to share with someone or to confirm information using the cheat sheet.

👉 YOUR INFO ですよね。

Vocabulary Cheat Sheet

What many would agree with

  • 日本語は難しい Nihongo wa muzukashii
  • 夏は暑い Natsu wa atsui
  • 仕事は大変 Shigoto wa taihen
  • 健康が一番 Kenkou ga ichiban

Assessing a person or thing

  • 優しい yasashii (kind)
  • かっこいい kakkoii (cool)
  • 頭がいい atama ga ii (smart)
  • すごい sugoi (amazing)

Bonus Go Beyond the Basics

In everyday conversation, you'll want to verify negative sentences ("...it's NOT, right?") and speak casually with friends. Here’s how to level up your confirmation skills!

🙅‍♀️ 1. Confirming a Negative

With Nouns/Na-Adjectives

簡単 じゃないですよね。

(Kantan ja nai desu yo ne.)It's not easy, right?

With I-Adjectives

美味しく ないですよね。

(Oishikunai desu yo ne.)It doesn't taste good, right?

🤝 2. Friendly & Casual (Friends)

Changing 'desu' to 'da'

大変 だよね。

(Taihen da yo ne.)It's tough, isn't it?

Dropping 'desu' entirely (I-Adjectives)

面白い よね！

(Omoshiroi yo ne!)It's interesting, isn't it!

Summary Lesson Review

Strong Confirmation: Combine elements into 〜ですよね (desu yo ne) to express confidence that your partner shares your opinion.

The Empathy Fusion: It fuses the assertion of "yo" with the empathy of "ne", meaning "I think this way, and you surely feel the same, right?"

Casual Format: In casual speech with friends, change "desu" to "da" (だよね) or drop it entirely for i-adjectives (よね).

Practice Drill

1 / X Polite

Related Lessons & Next Steps