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- differences - When to use cannot versus cant? - English Language . . .
Generally, people use can't in speech and informal writing, and cannot or can not in formal writing or very formal speech Also (as @Kris points out in a comment), cannot might be used when you need to carefully distinguish it from can't in speech
- What is the difference between can not, cannot, and cant?
This isn't really a duplicate, as both the question and answer are different, and include the form "can not" with valuable info as to when not to use it This was exactly what I was looking for, and the other question+answer wasn't
- meaning - What is the correct way to use neither and nor in a . . .
I cannot find the tool, it is neither in the kitchen nor in the bathroom I dislike that punctuation and I would either use a semicolon or make it two sentences But if the sentence is interpreted that way then it only has a minor punctuation issue, while the use of 'neither' and 'nor' is actually correct
- Word for something difficult or nearly impossible to achieve
A ten-percent growth rate is an aspiration Aspirations are typically things that people or organisations want to achieve, think they can, but cannot guarantee that they will In business it's typically the best case scenario or outcome of a particular course of action A similar word is ambition In a more fanciful context, I would use dream
- grammaticality - Is it incorrect to say, Why cannot. . . . ? - English . . .
Cannot is the only negative form that contains not rather than -n't Theoretically, since it is a single word, you can say why cannot you without a problem My theory is that modern English speakers don't want to put cannot before the subject because it contains not and sounds like can not
- The usage of can not vs. cannot in mathematics
So here it’s about minimizing ambiguity: can not permits two interpretations, while cannot permits only one Such care is critical in the language of mathematics As another example, West would tell you that in mathematical discourse, both “x is a minimum” and “x is a minimal” are valid utterances, but they mean different things
- double negation - Is cannot not say standard English? - English . . .
9 "cannot not say" would only rarely be used in English, and only in very specific circumstances In particular, this is not a simple double negative "cannot not" does not mean the same as "can", it means "must" It also carries a connotation that not saying is the expected or default action
- Hard to understate versus Hard to overstate
It has frequently been remarked by students of language how often people get these around the wrong way, or use 'understate' when they mean 'overstate', for example here and here Similar topic ("cannot must not underestimate") here A Google search for "hard to understate" (with quote marks) mostly returns examples of misuse
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