Yes. You can use that for any negative. Isn’t wasn’t doesn’t hasn’t take your pick! Some might say it’s vulgar language but I think it’s just fine in modern days. It’s not formal though.
2 Likes
so, when I can use isn’t, I can replace it with ain’t, right?
Yup
Saying “again” to imply your original argument is not getting through to my brains is not presenting a new argument. If that was not your intention then using the word “again” is redundant and pointless.
The fact that I am free to write anything I want does not in itself prove another point, except the point that I can do it.
It does not mean I will write anything I want regardless of meaning, agreed up rules of grammar and conventional usage.
Putting spaces between letters of words is also nonsensical except to say that this is also what I am doing. That is to say I am arbitrarily separating the words “can” and “not” without regard to reason, or convention. This is not what I am doing. “Stan” and “Dard” are two separate non-existent words and have nothing to do with the word “Standard”. The thrust of my argument is that I can use “can not” (two separate, valid AND existing words) in all written form situations in place of “cannot” and it will not make a difference. Do you, Andrew, have something to say - generated by your own brain power, knowledge and experience - to refute my assertion?
Asking someone to post the Grammarly link - as some indisputable authority - for a fourth time to clear things up implies that it was not carefully looked at the first time it was posted and therein lies the problem. It does not. All Grammarly does is state that this is the common, conventional, agreed-upon usage for these particular words, which although correct, does not invalidate my assertion.
Due to your sensitivity to the word “logic” I have not used it in my response except in this sentence.
Cool information!
I’d like to add something here. White people use ain’t too. Asians too Hispanics too basically everyone. Not just African Americans.
1 Like
it ain’t proper to use in business related things, right?
Truth is, in USA, people don’t really give a shit. You’ve seen Donald Trump talk right? Not too polite.
It’s a bit risky though. Since there are certain cultural clue that tells you when you shouldn’t use it. If you’re confident enough it wouldn’t matter. But if you’re not, avoid it in formal occasions.
1 Like
According to this site,
There’s no difference in meaning between cannot and can not .
I’m finding this increasingly tedious, so this will probably be my last response in the thread. Once again, you can write “cannot” with the space if you want, but it’s non-standard. People would of course understand what you’re trying to say and the presence or absence of the space generally wouldn’t alter the meaning, but a minority of readers would perceive it as an error.
If “can not” was in a paper I was editing, outside of the exceptions described 50 or 60 posts back, I’d change it to “cannot”. Not because “can not” is impossible to understand, but rather because it’s not the standard way of writing that word. There are numerous words that have evolved from open to closed, sometimes via hyphens, such as “today” rather than “to day” (or its Old English equivalent), “tomorrow” rather than “to morrow”, “online” rather than “on-line”, and “cannot” rather than “can not” as we’re discussing here. I believe that the tendency to evolve to the closed form depends on how common the word combination is, which presumably explains why this happened with “cannot” but not with “mustnot” or “couldnot” or whatever.
All of these, incidentally, fit your definition of being formed from two separate, valid, and existing words, but there nonetheless exists a preferred and standard form in current usage. People who prefer to use a space are free to do so, with the caveat that a minority of readers will view it as an error.
2 Likes
This happens all the time. People can’t all agree on things. Plus language isn’t all about grammar. There’s also semantics and art, etc. In the end you just need to decide for yourself.
It’s definitely not Can Uck, yeah?
Clearly that’s not a problem that I can really help you with. I hazard a guess and say your frustrations and use of “again” and “once again” probably stems from your perception that whatever explanation you are providing is not getting through my thick skull. Lol.
Dude! You are stating the obvious and I am not arguing with the obvious…nobody (me) said that it is not non-standard, or that a minority of readers would not perceive it as an error. Nobody said it is not the preferred and standard form in current usage. All of those I accept and I understand how it came about. All I am saying is if it had not evolved the way it has - in a parallel universe - then we would not notice any difference in meaning or function. So, again, even though it is conventional and in wide usage it adds no functionality. And that is the key word here.
Yeah…I don’t know then - maybe you could fire off a strongly worded missive to Queen Elizabeth II or start a GoFundMe or something, to see whether you can get the space added back in. Good luck.
1 Like
You mean like the little missive you just directed at me? That should at least relieve the tedium of reading my posts.