I am not a native speaker of English, but I study English and Dutch. I have noticed that the two languages differ in their degree of flexibility. The following sentence, for example, is not acceptable to most English speakers:
... but this is not for everyone so.
I realise that this might be a too literal translation from Dutch:
... maar dit is niet voor iedereen zo.
Dutch, however, permits both constituent orders:
... maar dit is niet voor iedereen zo.
... maar dit is niet zo voor iedereen.
Since Dutch and English are closely related, I found it interesting that they should differ with respect to their constituent ordering flexibility.
... but this is not for everyone so.
... but this is not so for everyone.
Can anyone explain in a more systematic way the main differences between English and Dutch (or another Germanic language) with respect to word-order flexibility?
