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?
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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 3 '15 at 15:40
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@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 Reinstate Monica Mar 3 '15 at 16:04
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@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 3 '15 at 16:20
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@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 Reinstate Monica Mar 3 '15 at 16:52
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@FumbleFingers If that's the point at issue, then it's a duplicate of this. – StoneyB on hiatus Mar 3 '15 at 17:00
