1

Do they mean same thing? I found both use on the Internet, for example:

Why does it not work?

Why does not it work?

Improve this question
2
  • 4
    The second one ("Why does not it work?") is wrong. Remember that there are many people on the internet who are not native English speakers, or who made a typo when entering something.
    – stangdon
    Feb 25, 2022 at 15:41
  • 6
    We commonly say Why doesn't it work?, but when the words are spoken in full we always use Why does it not work?. You will see sentences like Why does not it work? in old novels, but for some reason we never use that word order nowadays.
    – Kate Bunting
    Feb 25, 2022 at 15:42

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
2

Why doesn't it work is often used in the abbreviated form, but when not using this, you would use Why does it not work. Why does not it work is not grammatically correct.

Improve this answer
1

Why does it not work?

Why does not it work?

As commented and answered earlier, the first example is right.

englishgrammar explains further; 'contracted and uncontracted negative questions have different word order'.

Doesn’t he understand? (Auxiliary verb + n’t + subject)

Does he not understand? (Auxiliary verb + subject + not)

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .