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From what I’ve read, and got, here, a complete declarative sentence requests a verb, and arguments.

Does a complete interrogative request this, to get thought of as grammatically proper, too?

She (subject, argument[?]) did (auxiliary verb[?]) not (auxiliary adverb[?]) go (intransitive verb[?]).

Did (auxiliary verb[?]) she (subject, argument[?]) not (auxiliary adverb[?]) go (intransitive verb[?])?

And may you use it, and have it grammatically, and syntactically proper, as

Did she go not?

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    I think you mean the sentence requires a verb, not "requests" a verb. Requires means "needs", while requests means "asks for".
    – stangdon
    Commented Feb 4, 2016 at 20:22
  • The shortest question is Huh? But it requires the context of a conversation.
    – TimR
    Commented Feb 5, 2016 at 13:56

2 Answers 2

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I'm uncertain about how you are using the term "argument" and I have no clue what all the question marks mean, but I think the answer to your question is:

Yes, a complete interrogative requires both a subject and a verb.

Did she go not?

is not grammatical under any circumstances.

Did she not go?

would only be used for humorous effect or if you are trying to sound theatrical.

The proper syntax is:

Didn't she go?

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  • So, I guess, you state a complete interrogative requests a subject argument, and a verb? And, so, you cannot use an adverb after a verb?
    – saySay
    Commented Feb 5, 2016 at 1:03
  • Yes, a complete interrogative requires a subject and verb at a minimum, but you are not limited to those. You can also have adverbs, direct and indirect objects, etc. as needed to make a meaningful question?
    – BlueDot
    Commented Feb 9, 2016 at 16:43
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The classic form for a basic declarative sentence in English is: subject - verb - object (optional).

So a minimal declarative sentence is two words, like, "Alice walked."

Of course you can add all sorts of complexity: indirect objects, prepositional phrases, etc.

A basic interrogative sentence is: interrogative word - verb (or helping verb) - subject - verb (if first was helper) - object (optional). So a typical simple interrogative is, "Who is singing?" or "Why did Bob leave?"

The interrogative word can be omitted in some cases, notably when the verb is a form of "to be" or "to do". "Is this car for sale?" "Did you invite her?"

We often omit even these basic pieces from an interrogative. "Why?", "Who?", etc are very common questions. We could debate if they're complete sentences, maybe not, but they're acceptable in even the most formal writing.

"Did she go not?" is incorrect. As BlueDot says, you can say, "Did she not go?" I disagree with BlueDot that that would be "theatrical". It is more formal than most people would use in conversation, but not unheard of. But as he/she says, usually we contract this to, "Didn't she go?" Note that when you use a contraction like this, the "not" jumps over the subject so that it can join "did".

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  • So, Didn’t she go? means Did (auxiliary verb[?]), interrogative word[?]), not (auxiliary adverb[?]) she (subject, argument[?]) go (verb)??
    – saySay
    Commented Feb 5, 2016 at 1:06
  • With "did", there is no interrogative word. By "interregotative" word I mean "what", "why", "how", "who", or "where". (I think that's all of them.) You don't need those when the question uses "to do" and you are asking whether the action was performed, e.g. "Did she go?", or with "to be" when you are asking if the thing exists or meets some condition, e.g. "Is the grass green?" So the pattern is basically [auxilliary verb] [subject] [primary verb], with the "not" modifier added.
    – Jay
    Commented Feb 5, 2016 at 14:03
  • So, Didn’t she go? means Did (auxiliary verb[?]), not (auxiliary adverb[?]) she (subject, argument[?]) go (verb)??
    – saySay
    Commented Feb 5, 2016 at 19:29

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