當我們想要表達“沒有能力做”或是“不被允許做”的意思時,我們都用到了壹個詞是“cannot”。也就是我們經常縮寫成為“can't”。很多人喜歡把can 與 not 分開寫,但其實這是壹個普遍的錯誤。《美國傳統詞典》中對於這壹點的解釋相當明確:cannot這個單詞,是can的否定形式。
Here’s one example I use:
If I say “I cannot smoke,” I mean that I am unable to or not permitted to smoke. If I say, “I can not smoke,” not modifies smoke. My meaning is: “I am able to not smoke,” i.e., I have the ability to avoid smoking, to prevent myself from smoking, or to stop smoking.
可以舉這樣壹個例子:
如果我說I cannot smoke,我的意思是,我不會抽煙,或者,這裏不讓抽煙。
如果我說I can not smoke,這時,not就是修飾smoke的,那麽這句話的意思其實是:我可以不抽煙。就好比,我有能力讓自己克制吸煙,或者我可以戒煙。
Another example:
If I am unable to go or am not permitted to go, I should write, “I cannot go.” If I have a choice between going and not going, I may write, “I can go, or I can not go – it is my choice.”
另外壹例:
如果我去不了某處,我會寫:I cannot go;
而當我可以去,可以不去的時候,我才可能會寫:I can go, or I can not go——這是我的選擇自由。
To all my fellow nitpickers out there: I am fully aware that the two-word construction “can not” is often used where the opposite of “can” is intended. Despite the ubiquity of this usage, it is still an error.
致我的所有喜歡“吹毛求疵”的朋友們:
我非常清楚這壹點:
在很多時候本來應該使用單詞[can]的否定式[cannot]的時候,往往人們卻使用了兩個單詞構成的詞組[can not]。
即使這樣的用法遍天都是,但是事實仍然是:它是錯誤的。