Inversion with n'est-ce pas

Question

Bonjour, j'ai répondu à une question où je devais transformer l'affirmation suivante "Marie vient demain" en une question en utilisant ''n'est-ce pas ?". Ma réponse "Marie vient-elle demain, n'est-ce pas ?" a été jugée fausse, mais je n'ai pas compris pourquoi je ne peux pas utiliser l'inversion dans ce cas.  Je vous remercie d'avance!

Accepted Answer

Hi Gabriel,
When you use n'est-ce pas,  there is never an inversion -

Vous parlez espagnol, n'est-ce pas ? = You speak Spanish, don't you ?
Elle ne parle pas allemand, n'est-ce pas ? = She doesn't speak German, does she?
Ces gens étaient norvégiens, n'est-ce pas ? = These people were Norwegian, weren't they? 
Nous allons recevoir une réponse n'est-ce pas ? = We are going to receive an answer, won't we ?
Ce serait bien, n'est-ce pas ? It would be great, wouldn't it?

This is a rare case when French is easier than English as 'n'est-ce pas' can be a whole host of possibilities like isn't she, don't you, won't we etc.
Hope this helps!

Answer

You asked an inverted question "Marie vient-elle demain, n'est-ce pas ?" - Effectively "Is Mary coming tomorrow, is it not ?"

"n'est-ce pas ?" can only be added to a statement to convert it to a question - "Mary vient demain, n'est-ce pas ?" - "Mary is coming tomorrow, is it not ?"

Answer

Sorry Maarten but not quite getting your logic.. Think I  would be very happy with "Mary's coming tomorrow, isn't she" either as a question or affirmation.. Which is what Gabriel is asking?

Answer

“Marie vient-elle demain ?”  is already/always  a question. You can’t add “n’est-ce pas” as well, to make it a question. “Marie vient demain” without modification, is a statement. Adding “n’est-ce pas” makes it a question. “ Marie vient demain” can also be a question but only with appropriate intonation.

Answer

J'ai compris! Merci.

Answer

Think I am getting this... as usual it is the English that is the problem with the redundant  "isn't she"cheers

Answer

It's actually the same in English: you can't add "isn'tshe" to a question: Is Marie coming tomorrow, isn't she? -- That simply doesn't work in either English or French. In English you need a statement so that you can append "isn't she" to it, same as in French: Marie is coming tomorrow, isn't she?

English and French are even in sync when it comes to a statement being also a question: "Marie is coming tomorrow" this can be a statement or a question in English, depending on intonation. And if you want to use "isn't she", it is intonated as a statement. Same as in French.

Answer

Agreed.. that was what I was thinking and good to see it clarified