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Usage of ではありませんか in this context.

wuomin

後輩
3 May 2014
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Hello everyone,
I've been reading a children's book titled, 白鳥の湖。I've stumbled upon two sentences of similar structure and can't figure out the meaning or context of ではありませんか.
1. ふしぎなことに、白鳥たちは、岸に上がると、少女にへんしんするではありませんか
2.たとえ、ひるまは白鳥のすがたでも、夜は私の愛するオデットひめではありませんか
ではありませんか can translate as "to not exist", if I'm correct, so how does it fit into these two sentences. Any help would be appreciated!
Thank you,
Kai
 
1)
In this case, ~ではないか/ありませんか is not negative but a structure to express surprise.

2)
That's not negative, either, but works as a kind of a sentence final particle. The speaker actually says 夜は私の愛するオデットひめです.
 
Usage of ではありませんか in this context.

You're reading children's books. Imagine an annoying woman saying "And what do you think happened next? That's right! They xxx!"

Literally, it is like "didn't they?" Or "wasn't it?" Etc.
 
1)
In this case, ~ではないか/ありませんか is not negative but a structure to express surprise.
2)
That's not negative, either, but works as a kind of a sentence final particle. The speaker actually says 夜は私の愛するオデットひめです.
Thank you very much for the reply, Toritoribe。 I never would have expected ではありませんか to act a sentence final particle to express surprise. I appreciate your input!
 
You're reading children's books. Imagine an annoying woman saying "And what do you think happened next? That's right! They xxx!"

Literally, it is like "didn't they?" Or "wasn't it?" Etc.
Very interesting! It's context appears very similar to ね as in "isn't it?" or "right?".
Thank you for your input, Mike Cash.
 
You mixed them up. #1 is an expression for surprise and #2 is a sentence final particle.
#2 is more likely closer to (です)よ, not ね.
 
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