cannot

See also: can not

English

Alternative forms

• cannet, cannit (Geordie)
• can not

Etymology

From can +‎ not. (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Since when?”)

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkænɒt/, /kænˈɒt/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkæ(n.)nɑt/, /ˈkɛ(n.)nɑt/, /kə(n)ˈnɑt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• (Canada) IPA^(key): /kəˈnɑt/
• Hyphenation: can‧not
• Rhymes: -ɒt

Verb

cannot

1. Can not (be unable to).

   I cannot open the window. It is stuck.

2. Be forbidden or not permitted to
   • 1668 December 19, James Dalrymple, “Mr. Alexander Seaton contra Menzies” in The Deciſions of the Lords of Council & Seſſion I (Edinburgh, 1683), page 575

     The Pupil after his Pupillarity, had granted a Diſcharge to one of the Co-tutors, which did extinguiſh the whole Debt of that Co-tutor, and conſequently of all the reſt, they being all correi debendi, lyable by one individual Obligation, which cannot be Diſcharged as to one, and ſtand as to all the reſt.

   • 2013 June 21, Karen McVeigh, “US rules human genes can't be patented”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 2, page 10:

     The US supreme court has ruled unanimously that natural human genes cannot be patented, a decision that scientists and civil rights campaigners said removed a major barrier to patient care and medical innovation.

   You cannot enter the hall without a ticket.

Usage notes

• Both the one-word form cannot and the two-word form can not are acceptable, but cannot is more common (in the Oxford English Corpus, three times as common). The two-word form is generally required in constructions where not is part of a set phrase, such as 'not only... but (also)': Paul can not only sing well, but also paint brilliantly.

An important contrast is that cannot is definitive, whereas can not is open to other options: Jane cannot go to the party. indicates an insurmountable obstacle preventing Jane's attendance at the party, whilst Jane can not go to the party. indicates that Jane is free to choose to attend or be absent.

In spoken English emphasis may be placed on the first syllable of cannot (e.g. /ˈkænɒt/) in the first phrase and on not in the second phrase (e.g. /kən ˈnɒt/), and the second may exaggerate the space between the two syllables and/or the syllable length when it is intended to clearly articulate which form is meant. A speaker may also clarify the second by contrast, e.g. She can go, or she can not go.

• Although not be able to or be unable to are the usual replacements for cannot in situations where an auxiliary verb is unavailable (e.g. future, infinitive), they are not entirely synonyms. They match the senses of lacking capability/power to do something, but not of being forbidden or warned away from doing something. "You cannot/can't go!" can mean "I forbid you to go," "I implore you not to go," or "You are ill-advised to go," but "You're unable to go" cannot bear these meanings, only the meaning "Something factually prevents you from going, it is impossible for you to go."

Synonyms

• can't

Translations

cannot — see also can,‎ not

• American Sign Language: 1@NearSternumhigh-PalmForward-1@Chesthigh-TipAcross FastContact 1@FromBackFinger-PalmDown-1@Chesthigh-TipAcross
• Arabic: عَجَزَ (ar) (ʕajaza), لَا يَسْتَطِيع (lā yastaṭīʕ)
• Bulgarian: не може (ne može)
• Catalan: no poder
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不會 / 不会 (zh) (bù huì), 不要 (zh) (bù yào), 不能 (zh) (bù néng), 不行 (zh) (bù xíng), (negative verb complements used) e.g.: ...不了 (zh) (...bùliǎo)

• Czech: nemoct
• Danish: kan ikke
• Dutch: niet kunnen
• Esperanto: ne povi
• Finnish: ei voi (ability, circumstances, etc.); ei osaa (capability, skill, etc.)
• French: ne pas pouvoir
• German: nicht können
• Italian: non potere
• Jamaican Creole: cyaan
• Japanese: ...できない (ja) (...dekinai) (unable); ...駄目である (ja) (...だめである, ...dame de aru), ...してはならない (...shite wa naranai), ...してはいけない (...shite wa ikenai) (not allowed); (potential negative forms used) e.g.: 読めない (yomenai),　 食べられない (taberarenai) / 食べれない (taberenai)
• Khmer: មិនអាច (mɨn aac)
• Korean: 못 (ko) (mot), ...수 없다 (...su eopda), 못하다 (ko) (mothada)
• Latin: non posse, nescio (la), nequeo, (plus a pronoun in indirect object) prohibetur (la), (plus a pronoun in indirect object)) interdicitur, (plus a pronoun in indirect object)) vetatur, (plus a pronoun in indirect object) non licet
• Latvian: nevar, nespēj
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kan ikke

• Old Turkic: 𐰆𐰢𐰀 (uma /⁠uma-⁠/)
• Pitcairn-Norfolk: kaa
• Polish: nie móc
• Portuguese: não pode
• Russian: не мо́чь (ne móčʹ) (e.g. я не могу - I can't), нельзя́ (ru) (nelʹzjá) (not allowed)
• Slovak: nemôcť, nebyť schopný, nedokázať
• Spanish: no poder
• Swedish: kan inte, kan icke (dated)
• Thai: ...ไม่ได้ (...mâi dâai), ...ไม่เป็น (...mâi bpen)
• Turkish: -ama, -eme
• Vietnamese: có thể không
• Welsh: methu (cy), ffili, dim gallu

Noun

cannot (plural cannots)

1. Something that cannot be done.

   the cans and cannots

2. A person who cannot do (something).

Anagrams

• Canton, Conant, Nacton, canton, nonact, noncat

Norman

Etymology

Related to French cane (“(female) duck”) and canard (“duck; drake”); see there for more. Cognate with French canot (“little boat”).

Noun

cannot m (plural cannots)

1. (Jersey) duckling

Derived terms

• cannoter (“to walk like a duck”)