[erlang-questions] 'cannot' /= 'can not'

[Ivan Uemlianin]

Very nice example! I would have thought this “can not” only acceptable in informal (& perhaps only spoken) English. Formal documents should always use “cannot”.

Ivan
(Native British English speaker)


--
festina lente


> On 25 Jul 2018, at 10:20, Sean Hinde <sean.hinde@REDACTED> wrote:
> 
>> 
>> I have tried to get a grip on this (not having English as my native
>> language), and found these sites seems to say that there is no difference
>> in meaning between "cannot" and "can not":
>> 
>>    https://www.dailywritingtips.com/cannot-or-can-not/
>>    https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/204006/cannot-vs-can-not
>>    https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/4510/why-is-cannot-spelled-as-one-word
>>    https://www.grammarly.com/blog/cannot-or-can-not/
>>    http://grammarist.com/usage/cannot-or-can-not/
> 
> This is a fun one. As a native english speaker here’s my take:
> 
> Using my son’s homework as an example:
> 
> He has a choice. He can do it, or he can not do it
> 
> If he cannot do it he has no choice :)
> 
> If forced to think I would use cannot in the context used in the release notes, 
> although I have never over the years read that phrase in the release notes as 
> meaning there is a choice in whether it can be applied.
> 
> Sean
> 
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