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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
- Cannot vs. Can Not - English Language Usage Stack Exchange
5 OED-cannot definition: the ordinary modern way of writing can not Both cannot and can not are acceptable spellings There’s no difference in meaning between cannot and can not but the cannot is much more usual Some references from ELU - can't vs cannot Why is “cannot” spelled as one word? (a few exceptions)
- 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
- Can we use the wording We can not only . . . but also . . . ?
Is the following wording okay? He can not only do this, but also do that In this case, it seems that the writer is dividing 'cannot' into two words Is that acceptable?
- 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
- 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
- expressions - Hard to understate versus Hard to overstate - English . . .
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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