grammar - Why is the phrase 'Should we not' a Positive assertion?


This phrase is asking the listener to take action in the positive to help our neighbors.



"Should we not stand by our neighbors who seek to better their conditions in Kansas and Nebraska?"



Switching should to a different place now asks the listener to NOT help out.



"We should not stand by our neighbors who seek to better their conditions in Kansas and Nebraska?"



How is should and not working in this sentence to change the request of the speaker?



Answer



It comes down to the sentence structure. If the second sentence is a question, it has a similar assertion to the first sentence, just a subtly different way of asking. i.e. You would not make it a question with that structure unless you felt there could be any doubt in the proposition.


If you delete the question mark (query) and replace it with a period (full stop), the sentence takes on the negative assertion you are implying.


In analyzing this, I would recommend thinking of what is the actual statement in each sentence.



Should we not? -- I think we should, don't you agree?
We should not? -- Really? We shouldn't?
Should we not. -- If we do not, the following will happen.
We should not. -- Don't do it.



Keep in mind that the first two questions above can have a negative answer, too.



Should we not? -- No we should not.
We should not? -- Correct, we should not.



In three out of four of these cases should is being used to express obligation or what is the correct action. Should we not. is the only case where the meaning is shifting to the conditional sense of the word should.


Note that in the first question, the I think we should is implied by context. Because you could use the same structure without the implication:



Should we not bring cake to our neighbor's house? I think I heard she is diabetic.



And, as Reg sagaciously points out below in comments, these questions would typically be rhetorical.


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