Breakdown of Waarom plak je het etiket er niet op?
niet
not
op
on
waarom
why
je
you (unstressed form of jij)
Questions & Answers about Waarom plak je het etiket er niet op?
Why are er and op separated in this sentence?
"On it" translates to erop. However, in Dutch main clauses, these combo words usually split. Er jumps earlier in the sentence, while the preposition (op) gets pushed all the way to the end. That is why niet ends up sitting between them!
Why does het etiket come before er?
The position of er changes depending on whether the object is specific or general. Because het etiket is a specific direct object (it means the label, not just a label), it has to come before er. If it were "a label" (een etiket), er would come first.
Why is niet placed exactly where it is, right before op?
The word niet usually comes before prepositional phrases. Because the split word er...op acts as a prepositional phrase ("on it"), niet is placed right before the preposition half (op) near the end of the sentence.
Just a quick refresher: why is it plak je instead of je plakt?