What does “hein” mean at the end of a Portuguese sentence?

Hein is Brazil’s all-purpose tag word, tacked onto the end of a sentence to demand a reaction — agreement, attention, or reassurance — the way English uses “right?”, “okay?”, or “huh?”. A father pressing his daughter to keep a secret says pelo amor de Deus, não conta nada pra sua mãe, hein? and then, for extra insistence, mas nenhum, hein? — each hein turning a plain statement into a soft, wheedling appeal.

Hein also works alone, as a plain “huh?” when you missed what someone said, or as a burst of surprise. Its accepted spellings are hein and hem; the version with a final -m sound spelled heim is common online but considered a mistake. Drop it onto the end of almost any sentence in casual speech and it softens a command or fishes for a nod back.