2022-01-08
ศัพท์ น่าสับสน - Set – C – cannot & can’t
แนะนำการใช้ ตามที่ส่วนใหญ่ใช้ แต่ละท้องถิ่น
ความหมาย อาจผันแปร ตาม ตำแหน่ง/หน้าที่ ในประโยค
Dictionary.com
ออกเสียง cannot = ‘KAN-ot” or “ka-NOT”
ออกเสียง can’t = “KANT”
Dictionary.com
USAGE NOTE FOR CANNOT
Cannot is sometimes also spelled can not.
The one-word spelling is by far the more common:
Interest rates simply cannot continue at their present level.
The contraction can't is most common in speech and informal writing.
Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree:
can't = contraction of cannot
Not to be confused with:
cant – insincere: the private language of the underworld;
= phraseology peculiar to a particular class or profession:
the cant of the fashion industry;
= whining or singsong speech, esp. of beggars; hypocrisy, sham, pretense, humbug.
recant – withdraw or disavow, revoke, rescind, deny:
He recanted his confession.
Dictionary of Problem Words and Expressions:
Cannot & can’t
Cannot this term should be spelled as one word (cannot)
unless you wish to emphasizenot.
Such usage is rare, but it is permissible in a statement such as
“I can hear you, but I can not understand you.”
Use of can’t for cannot is sanctioned by widespread usage
and is preferable in every formal writing and speaking situations.
Cannot (can’t) help but.
In this expression, but should be omitted because its use results in a double negative (cannot, or can’t, and but).
Instead of saying “I can’t help but think you are mistaken,”
Say “I can’t help but thinking you are mistaken,” a more concise statement with no double negative involved.
Can’t hardly.
Omit the not in the contraction so as to avoid a double negative.
Prefer can hardly to can’t hardly (and can’t scarcely).
Can’t seem to.
Is seem toever needed in this expression?
Doesn’t can’texpress the idea by itself?
What does seem toreally add?
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
Usage Notes
‘Cannot’ vs. ‘Can Not’: Is there a difference?
You can learn all about them
What to Know
Both cannot and can not are perfectly fine,
but cannot is far more common and is therefore recommended,
especially in any kind of formal writing.
Can't has the same meaning, but as with contractions in general,
it is somewhat informal.
In some cases, the not following can is in fact part of another phrase,
such as “not only";
in such instances can not is the appropriate choice.
This dictionary defines cannot as “can not.”
The word and the phrase mean exactly the same thing:
both are the negation of the very common and useful verb can.
The only difference between them is that
the closed form, cannot,is much more common.
I smell pie but I cannot see any pie.
I smell pie but I can not see any pie.
Cannot has been in use since the 15th century.
We don’t know why English speakers
thought it’d be a good idea to zip the two words together to form one;
they didn’t seem to see much use
in doing the same to do not or is not or have not.
English speakers did see fit to make contractions
out of the whole lot of them, though:
in addition to cannot we have can’t as well.
And we also have don’t, isn’t, haven’t, couldn’t, etc.
These all mean precisely the same thing as their extended forms.
The only difference between don’t and do not, isn’t and is not, etc.,
is that the contractions tend not to be used in formal writing.
(This is true of can’t as well.)
When 'Can Not' Is Preferred
There is one set of circumstances
in which can not is preferred over cannot
—when the not is functioning as part of a different phrase:
Now I can not only smell the pie, but I can also see it.
If you’re unsure about the phrasal status of the not,
try the sentence with can’t instead and see if it works:
*Now I can’t only smell the pie, but I can also see it.
(The * is a signal that this sentenceis not one that passes muster grammatically.)
Cant (without the apostrophe) is another word—or several words, actually.
In its most common use as a noun it refers to the language
used by a particular subset of people,
as in “the cant of thieves.”
None of its homographs have anything to do with not being able or permitted to do something.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language:
can·not (kăn′ŏt, kə-nŏt′, kă-) aux.v.
The negative form of can
Usage Note:
The idiomatic phrase cannot but has sometimes
been criticized as a double negative,
perhaps because it has been confused with can but.
The but of cannot but, however, means "except,"
as it does in phrases such as no one but,
while the but of can but has the sense only,
as it does in the sentence
We had but a single bullet left.
Both cannot but and can but are established as standard expressions.
· The construction cannot help is used with a present participle
to roughly the same effect as a verb form ending in -ing in a sentence
such as We cannot help admiring his courage.
This construction usually implies that a person is unable
to affect an outcome normally under his or her control.
Thus, saying
We could not help laughing at such a remark
would imply that one could not suppress one's laughter.
· The construction cannot help but
probably arose as a blend of cannot help and cannot but;
it has the meaning of the first and the syntax of the second:
We cannot help but admire his courage.
The construction has sometimes been criticized as a redundancy,
but it has been around for more than a century
and appears in the writing of many distinguished authors.
· The expression cannot (or can't) seem to
has occasionally been criticized as illogical, and so it is.
Brian can't seem to get angry does not mean
"Brian is incapable of appearing to get angry,"
as its syntax would seem to dictate; rather,
it means "Brian appears to be unable to get angry."
But the idiom serves a useful purpose,
since the syntax of English does not allow a logical equivalent like
Brian seems to cannot get angry;
and the cannot seem to construction is so widely used
that it would be pedantic to object to it.
