I suppose I’m as qualified as anyone to quote the authorities at Merriam-Webster, the OED, or Washington State University. If you are confined to bed with a broken leg, however, you “cannot” take the dog for a walk, regardless of your mood. You “can” or “can not” take the dog for a walk, depending on your mood. It means that you are not able to do that thing. “Cannot” is unequivocal: it means you do not have a choice something you cannot do is not something you “can” or “can not” do. Please do not make pronouncements on subjects or topics that you are not reallhy qualified to judge. Obviously, the use is somewhat limited, but it is very helpful. Some people (especially in philosophy or such fields) use the two to mean slightly different things as shown below: And canNOT doesn’t take into account the pause between can and NOT. There is one use where can not works better than cannot. I was taught “cannot” so anything else looks wrong to me! 50+ Words That Describe Animals (Including Humans).20 Great Similes from Literature to Inspire You.Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Spelling category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below: There’s no difference in meaning between cannot and can not. These two spellings are largely interchangeable, but by far the most common is “cannot” and you should probably use it except when you want to be emphatic: “No, you can not wash the dog in the Maytag.” The Washington State University language site says: You would use can not when the ‘not’ forms part of another construction such as ‘not only.’ The experts at AskOxford seem to prefer cannot:īoth cannot and can not are acceptable spellings, but the first is much more usual. 89 An angel’s arm can’t snatch me from the grave Legions of angels can’t confine me there. 229 Whethir it be thus or non I can not say. 186 Other tydyngs as yett can I non tell you. 105 And ou at he deed fore cannot sorus be. The historical illustrations given for the negative in the OED shows cannot, can not, and even canot, as well as the contraction can’t: The ordinary modern way of writing can not If you try looking up “can not” in the online unabridged, you will be sent to a list of suggestions headed by cannot.Īccording to the entry in the OED, cannot is
Merriam-Webster lists cannot as one word. Writing “can not” (i.e., as two separate words) is almost always an error, though, so keep an eye out for this in your work! Alternatively, if you’d like someone to check your writing for errors with an expert eye, try our proofreading services today.What is the difference between ‘can not’ and ‘cannot’?Īlthough my personal Error Alarm buzzes whenever I see cannot written as two words, both forms are acceptable usage.
Cannot is the proper negative form of “can.”.So, when should you use these terms? To summarize the key points: He can not only juggle but also ride a unicycle!īut if you are just forming a negation, “cannot” is always a single word. For instance, “can” is fine before the phrase “not only… but also”: There are some occasions when “can” may precede “not” as part of a phrase. But this is a mistake! As noted above, the correct spelling is “cannot” (one word):
Is cannot one word full version#
Some people thus assume the full version of “can’t” is “can not” (two words).
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