Nachphrase

Nachphrase is a linguistic term describing a short discourse phrase appended to the end of a sentence to affect how the proposition is received. It typically follows the main clause and functions as a postposed marker that modulates tone, stance, or politeness. Nachphrases are distinct from preposed modifiers because their pragmatic effect emerges after the core statement.

The term combines nach, a German preposition meaning after, with phrase. It is a neologism used mainly in discussions of discourse pragmatics and informal speech analysis; it has not achieved universal standardization and appears primarily in online discussions and exploratory corpora rather than formal grammars.

Common functions include hedging, mitigation, stance alignment, humor, emphasis, and signaling sincerity or irony. In casual conversation, nachphrases can soften refusals, acknowledge potential disagreement, or invite listener engagement.

Examples include sentences ending with “you know,” “if you will,” “to be honest,” “right?” or “I think.” For instance: “The meeting ran late, you know.” or “It was a tough week, I suppose.” These post-clause phrases help manage the reception of the main claim and may convey attitudes that are not fully explicit in the core sentence.

Nachphrase is related to discourse markers, tag questions, and stance-taking, but is differentiated by its post-clause position and pragmatic effect. It can be studied in spoken corpora, transcripts, and social media analyses to understand how speakers steer interpretation after presenting a proposition.