What does じゃあ at the end of a sentence mean?


> そろそろ学校に行く時間じゃあ？

Is it like ですか? Or like じゃん/じゃない?

I've thought it could be that じゃ that is the same as だ used by characters who
are old, but this one is young.




If you understand this:

> そろそろ学校に行く時間じゃ **ない？**  
>  Isn't it time you go to school?

Then you can think the sentence in question is exactly the same except that
**ない is omitted**. じゃ is normally used with negation, so you don't always have
to say ない after じゃ.

じゃ is a colloquial variant of では, so you can say this, too:

> そろそろ学校に行く時間 **では？**  
>  **Isn't it** time you go to school?

A word for negation like ない is not always explicitly said in Japanese, and you
have to get used to this fact. See also:

  * [Please explain the use of では in this particle cluster](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/74000/5010)
  * [The reason for using 何も+negative, but 何でも+positive](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/1565/5010)

じゃ is also an old man's version of the copula だ, but it's a different thing.
For example, if a stereotypical wise old man says "わしは先生じゃ!" in a manga, it
means 私は先生だ ("I am a teacher"), but if a young person says "私は先生じゃ!" with a
surprised look, it means 私は先生じゃ **ない** ("I am not a teacher").




If you understand this:

> そろそろ学校に行く時間じゃ **ない？**  
>  Isn't it time you go to school?

Then you can think the sentence in question is exactly the same except that
**ない is omitted**. じゃ is normally used with negation, so you don't always have
to say ない after じゃ.

じゃ is a colloquial variant of では, so you can say this, too:

> そろそろ学校に行く時間 **では？**  
>  **Isn't it** time you go to school?

A word for negation like ない is not always explicitly said in Japanese, and you
have to get used to this fact. See also:

  * [Please explain the use of では in this particle cluster](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/74000/5010)
  * [The reason for using 何も+negative, but 何でも+positive](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/1565/5010)

じゃ is also an old man's version of the copula だ, but it's a different thing.
For example, if a stereotypical wise old man says "わしは先生じゃ!" in a manga, it
means 私は先生だ ("I am a teacher"), but if a young person says "私は先生じゃ!" with a
surprised look, it means 私は先生じゃ **ない** ("I am not a teacher").

