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The following is coming from the perspective of a native German speaker.

As far as I understand English grammar, most constructions are strictly right-associative:

Why (is (this flower (not (on (the table))))), but on the floor?

 

Why (is (not (this flower (on (the table))))), but the other one?

It wasn't always this way. If you look at old English literature and poetry, the grammar shared a closer affinity with the German language, where the "not" is more flexibly positioned. (The "not" is left-associative in German, but not in the whole sentence.) In German, the important part of a sentence is always at the beginning, where the interrogative pronoun is placed.

For example, if the following question is asked:

Where must this stay?/ Where has this to stay?

Then one might answer:

Here / Not here … must this stay! / has this to stay!

This does sound OK, or at least not too odd in German, but I believe that this sounds really strange for native English speakers.

The position of the word "not" can be a bit flexible in newer English language, as in the above sentence, but modern English usage allows this flexibility less.

Please correct me, if I'm wrong. (Or if my English is wrong.)

The following is coming from the perspective of a native German speaker.

As far as I understand English grammar, most constructions are strictly right-associative:

Why (is (this flower (not (on (the table))))), but on the floor?

Why (is (not (this flower (on (the table))))), but the other one?

It wasn't always this way. If you look at old English literature and poetry, the grammar shared a closer affinity with the German language, where the "not" is more flexibly positioned. (The "not" is left-associative in German, but not in the whole sentence.) In German, the important part of a sentence is always at the beginning, where the interrogative pronoun is placed.

For example, if the following question is asked:

Where must this stay?/ Where has this to stay?

Then one might answer:

Here / Not here … must this stay! / has this to stay!

This does sound OK, or at least not too odd in German, but I believe that this sounds really strange for native English speakers.

The position of the word "not" can be a bit flexible in newer English language, as in the above sentence, but modern English usage allows this flexibility less.

Please correct me, if I'm wrong. (Or if my English is wrong.)

The following is coming from the perspective of a native German speaker.

As far as I understand English grammar, most constructions are strictly right-associative:

Why (is (this flower (not (on (the table))))), but on the floor?

Why (is (not (this flower (on (the table))))), but the other one?

It wasn't always this way. If you look at old English literature and poetry, the grammar shared a closer affinity with the German language, where the "not" is more flexibly positioned. (The "not" is left-associative in German, but not in the whole sentence.) In German, the important part of a sentence is always at the beginning, where the interrogative pronoun is placed.

For example, if the following question is asked:

Where must this stay?/ Where has this to stay?

Then one might answer:

Here / Not here … must this stay! / has this to stay!

This does sound OK, or at least not too odd in German, but I believe that this sounds really strange for native English speakers.

The position of the word "not" is can be a bit flexible in newer English language, as in the above sentence, but modern English usage allows less.

Please correct me, if I'm wrong. (Or if my English is wrong.)

The following is coming from the perspective of a native German speaker.

As far as I understand English grammar, most constructions are strictly right-associative:

Why (is (this flower (not (on (the table))))), but on the floor?

Why (is (not (this flower (on (the table))))), but the other one?

It wasn't always this way. If you look at old English literature and poetry, the grammar shared a closer affinity with the German language, where the "not" is more flexibly positioned. (The "not" is left-associative in German, but not in the whole sentence.) In German, the important part of a sentence is always at the beginning, where the interrogative pronoun is placed.

For example, if the following question is asked:

Where must this stay?/ Where has this to stay?

Then one might answer:

Here / Not here … must this stay! / has this to stay!

This does sound OK, or at least not too odd in German, but I believe that this sounds really strange for native English speakers.

The position of the word "not" can be a bit flexible in newer English language, as in the above sentence, but modern English usage allows this flexibility less.

Please correct me, if I'm wrong. (Or if my English is wrong.)

As far as I understand the English grammar, most things work strict right-associative:

Why (is (this flower (not (on (the table))))), but on the floor?

Why (is (not (this flower (on (the table))))), but the other one?

In old English literature and poetry, you (I) can sometimes feel the old relationship to the German language, where the "not" is more flexible positioned. (The "not" is left-associative in German, but not the whole sentence.) The important part of a sentence is always at the beginning, like the interrogative pronoun.

If the question is sth. like: Where must this stay?/Where has this to stay?

Then the answer may be: Here / Not here … must this stay! / has this to stay!

This does sound OK or at least not too old in German, but I believe that this sounds really strange for native English speakers.

Like this, the position of the word "not" is still somehow flexible in the newer English language, but the habit allows less.

Please correct me, if I'm wrong. (Or if my English is wrong.)

The following is coming from the perspective of a native German speaker.

As far as I understand English grammar, most constructions are strictly right-associative:

Why (is (this flower (not (on (the table))))), but on the floor?

Why (is (not (this flower (on (the table))))), but the other one?

It wasn't always this way. If you look at old English literature and poetry, the grammar shared a closer affinity with the German language, where the "not" is more flexibly positioned. (The "not" is left-associative in German, but not in the whole sentence.) In German, the important part of a sentence is always at the beginning, where the interrogative pronoun is placed.

For example, if the following question is asked:

Where must this stay?/ Where has this to stay?

Then one might answer:

Here / Not here … must this stay! / has this to stay!

This does sound OK, or at least not too odd in German, but I believe that this sounds really strange for native English speakers.

The position of the word "not" is can be a bit flexible in newer English language, as in the above sentence, but modern English usage allows less.

Please correct me, if I'm wrong. (Or if my English is wrong.)