…or something like that. Why do I say “busy people”? Well, it’s because I came across this contraction while I was going over my Japanese for Busy People III textbook the other day.
加藤: じゃあ、今年の花見ははやくなりそうですね。
Kato: Then cherry-viewing might be early this year, mightn’t it?
Of course, Mr. Kato doesn’t really sound like he’s in much of a hurry if you ask me, but I digress…
While I’m quite sure I’ve seen this contraction before at some point in my life, it’s certainly not one that I use in speech or in writing. I’m not sure if this is a typo or not because it doesn’t appear to be grammatically correct if you replace the contraction with the actual words (or do I only think this because I don’t use this contraction?).
Have you heard someone use this contraction before? Have you read it somewhere? Do you yourself use it?
Fiona Apple uses it in a song: “Mightn’t be right that you’re not here.” “Might” is subjunctive, which is used either as conditional or in very polite or understated situations, as are double-negatives to avoid stating the assertion. In your situation, Kato-san is just being extremely polite. And yes, I do use it, as in “Mightn’t it be right to use in some situations?”
(And no, I’m not really Fiona Apple.)