You follow these — you would never say them
«gäll», «halt», «äbe» — where the speaker stands
The rule
These small words change no fact, only the position behind it: «gäll» asks you to agree, «halt» means nothing can be done, «äbe» says that is exactly the point.
Das isch halt so.
Das ist eben so, da kann man nichts machen.
Du chunnsch au, gäll?
Du kommst auch, oder?
Äbe, gnau das han ich gmeint.
Genau, das habe ich gemeint.
Where it catches you
German has «eben», and «gell» is alive in the south — what is new is mostly how often they come, and «dänk», which has no German equivalent. You will follow the sentence without them. You just will not hear whether you were agreed with or asked something.
Where this actually comes up
The same structure, in sentences people actually say.
- In the laundry room
Das isch no mini Maschine, gäll.
Das ist noch meine Maschine, nicht wahr.
- At an apéro
Das chunt scho, gäll.
Das kommt schon, nicht wahr.