Question Deshite ne

[nedkelly]

I often come across the words "deshite ne". How is it different from "Deshita"?

 

[Buntaro]

Nedkelly,

This is called a tag question. For example, in English we can ask, "That test was difficult, wasn't it?" which is not really a question but an emphasis of just how difficult the test was. The Japanese word ne does the same thing.

 

[nedkelly]

I understand the function of "ne" but I am wondering how "Deshite" is different from "deshita" in the phrase "Deshite ne". Why not say "Deshita ne"?

 

[Buntaro]

Nedkelly,

Please give me a full-sentence example of "deshite ne."

 

[nedkelly]

Here is sentence which I heard:
あの店の先輩は意地悪でしてね、とても困りました。
I have only come across "Deshite ne" in conversation and in the spoken parts of novels. My impression is that it is creating rapport or closeness with the listener. That is just my thought and I may be wrong but I am interested in getting the definitive opinion on this.

 

[mdchachi]

I think you're right. It think inserting the ね invites the listener to empathize with the speaker. We do similar things in English.
The senior employee was mean, you see, and it was really tough.
Like, the senior employee was, like, a real dick and it was, like, super tough.

 

[Majestic]

でして is just the gerund form of です. In the sentence above, it just acts as a kind of link between the two clauses. It lets you know some other bit of information is happening that is related to the previous clause. And the ね is just a conversation smoother as has been pointed out.
But the verb です isn't found in its gerund form very often, and when it is used its almost always used to link two thoughts together. The speaker could have used でした, but that would bring the first thought to a complete close, which may have sounded harsher than the speaker intended.

 

[nedkelly]

Thank you Majestic. That makes it clear for me. Now that I think of it I have also heard でね used in this way.