0

When I talk about something,I will tell people not to do something and why,so,should I use

Why should not we do sth.

or

Why we should not do sht.

Which one is grammatically correct?

user17856
  • 1
  • 2
  • The first is a question; the second is a fused relative clause which can be part (subject or object) of a statement. – StoneyB on hiatus Mar 03 '15 at 15:40
  • @StoneyB: True, but why should not we point out that it's an extremely stilted/poetic word order unless contracted to why shouldn't* we. The normal uncontracted form is why should we not [do sth]*. – FumbleFingers Mar 03 '15 at 16:04
  • @FumbleFingers so why shouldn't we and why should we not both are grammatically right,the first strongly suggest someone to do something,and the second against it? – user17856 Mar 03 '15 at 16:20
  • @user17856: Contracted or not, both sequences are "grammatically correct". As StoneyB says, your first example is a complete sentence/utterance (specifically, a question) - it's just that idiomatically, native speakers would almost never use that sequence without contracting it (it's so rare some people would probably mistakenly think the uncontracted form is somehow "invalid"). Your second example isn't a sentence at all - it's just a "noun phrase" (specifically, a "fused relative clause"), which occurs quite naturally within sentences (whether it's informally contracted or not). – FumbleFingers Mar 03 '15 at 16:52
  • @FumbleFingers If that's the point at issue, then it's a duplicate of this. – StoneyB on hiatus Mar 03 '15 at 17:00
  • @StoneyB: Given OP's comment, I think it is a dup of the one you picked out (rather than the one that three others have CV'd against). I find it interesting that some posters on the earlier question actually say uncontracted Why should not we [do it]? really is "ungrammatical". I wouldn't go that far myself, but I think from the average learner's point of view it's probably okay to think that (or think what they like, so long as they only ever use the contracted form! :) – FumbleFingers Mar 03 '15 at 17:11

0 Answers0