What is the Difference between "Cannot" and "Can Not"?
The words cannot and can not give people grammar headaches when they try to determine which to use. According to most dictionaries, cannot is the more acceptable term under most circumstances in present use. Splitting the word into two words can have its uses that are very specific, and some people make huge distinctions between cannot and can not depending upon how the words are used in a sentence.
One of the most common explanations is that cannot does not leave the possibility of being able to do something. Consider the following sentences:
Jane cannot jump fifty feet in the air.
We cannot plan a manned mission to Pluto.
I cannot be in two places at once.
In all of these sentences, the term is expressing no possibility of exception. Jane really is unable completely to jump 50 feet in the air. It is thus far impossible to create a manned mission to Pluto. People may desire to be in two places at once, but they aren’t able to do this. All sentences lead to no chance that something can be done.
In most cases, dictionaries and style guides advocate using can and not in the conjoined way. They argue this is more common and better word usage than the term can not. Yet there are some reasons why the words would be separated, and this has to do with emphasizing the negative aspect of “not” of the two words. Here are a few examples where the words might be separated for emphasis:
I can not drink again because it might fuel my alcoholism.
You really can not let that dog eat your socks.
You can not take the car out without asking your father’s permission first.
It could be argued that all of these uses represent the no possibility of exception rule. Yet there is possibility of exception here. The former alcoholic might drink again, the dog may eat the socks, and the teen may still take the car without asking dad. What makes this usage different is the focus on the negative or “not.” What’s really important in each of these sentences is that the thing proposed doesn’t occur, so “not” may be separated out for extra emphasis.
Unless a person writing has one of these exceptions, cannot is still the more acceptable term, and in informal writing, most people would simply use the contraction “can’t” instead. In fact, one way to avoid the matter entirely is simply to use “can’t” but some writing instructors may frown upon the use of contractions in formal writing.
Written by Tricia Ellis-Christensen
