(no subject)

[sigmaleph]

i can't help but read the construction 'can not do X' as meaning something entirely different from 'cannot/can't do X'. the first means X is optional and the second means it is impossible or forbidden

i'm pretty sure this is not what people have in mind when they fail to contract 'can not'

Comments

[lunartulip]

Is it not? That's what I have in mind when I use that construction, at least, and my vague impression was that other people were similar in this regard. (Although it's a pretty rare construction for me to encounter at all, so maybe I've got an odd sample.)

[feotakahari]

So you interpret “can not” to mean the same thing as “could not.”