'i just can't seem to be able to do that'

Question

Ugghhh I hate that sentence.... but I can't think of anything else plus i'm not really sure if it's grammatically wrong.

Please tell me if it is wrong and tell me what other alternatives there are.

Maverick88 · Accepted Answer

Why not  'I can't do it' or 'I don't think I am up to it'

Mister Micawber · Answer

Change the 'can't' and it will make more sense, JK:

'I just don't seem to be able to do that'.

Whether or not a person can choose his own 'seeming' is another question.

Just the truth · Answer

It's grammatical and using is more emphatic than .

MrPedantic · Answer

Grammatical but edging into the twilight zone:

1. I am not able to make coffee >
2. I seem not to be able to make coffee >
3. I can't seem to be able to make coffee =
4. I am unable to seem to be able to make coffee =
5. I can't fake coffee-making or
6. I can't resemble someone who is making coffee.

On the other hand:

7. I don't seem to be able to make coffee =
8. I can't make coffee for some reason.

So I would say that the original sentence is an unusual way of saying something unusual; whereas the 'don't' version is a usual way of saying something usual.

MrP

JKBelieve · Answer

MrP what do you mean? what is the original sentence? and what do you mean by

'>'s and '='s?

MrPedantic · Answer

Sorry, JK, here it is again – with luck, a little clearer:

Take the original sentence, and replace 'to do that' with 'to make coffee', to make it more concrete: 'I just can't seem to be able to make coffee'.

How can we draw out its meaning? Perhaps by building it up in stages. If so, we should start with:

1. I am not able / to make coffee.
[Which we can expand to:

2. I seem / not to be able / to make coffee.
[Which we can again expand to:

3. I can / seem / not to be able / to make coffee.
[Which we can expand and rearrange as:

4. I just can't / seem / to be able / to make coffee.
[Which is an equivalent of your original sentence. By building it up piece by piece in this way, we show that the structure does at least have meaning. Now we can try to make that meaning clearer, by exchanging the words for equivalent phrases. This gives us two possibilities: either

5a. I am unable/ to seem to be able/ to make coffee.
[Which means:

6a. I can't/ fake/ coffee-making
[Or:

5b. I am unable/ to seem/ to be able/ to make coffee.
[Which means:

6b. I can't / resemble someone/ who can / make coffee.

Phew.

By contrast, the slight modification that Mister M. offered makes the sentence much easier to comprehend (again, I replace 'to do that' with 'to make coffee'):

7. I don't/ seem/ to be able/ to make coffee.
[Which means, with a little rearranging:

8. I can't / for some reason/ make coffee.
[Which can be rearranged as:

9. I can't make coffee, for some reason.

So the original sentence (of which #4 is a version) is an unusual way of saying something for which it would be difficult to find a context (see 6a, 6b); whereas the 'don't' version (#7) has a much simpler meaning, for which possible contexts spring readily to mind, e.g.

10. My husband doesn't seem to be able to make decent coffee.

(This analysis also shows that the two versions – 'can't' and 'don't' – have different meanings.)

MrP

CalifJim · Answer

JKB,

"can" means "be able" so this sentence says the same thing twice, although it's grammatical. (Recall that grammatical doesn't necessarily mean sensible. "I can't let you have to be able to have to be able to see yourself when I might have to be able to have seen you" is perfectly grammatical from a purely syntactical point of view.)

The most idiomatic way to say this is "I just can't seem to do that", in my opinion.

CJ

Just the truth · Answer

If I'm not mistaken, we often emphasize modals with both periphrastic modals [semi-modals] and adverbs.

"He probably should ... "

"Perhaps she may ..."

===

1,590 English pages for "I just can't seem to be able to".

139,000 English pages for "I just can't seem to".

Not a fair comparison though for these two because "I can't seem to ..." leads to numerous other collocations.

JKBelieve · Answer

Thank you all once again... ^^ especially MrP for going into all that trouble... ^^

JTT what do you mean by

1,590 English pages for "I just can't seem to be able to".

139,000 English pages for "I just can't seem to".

Not a fair comparison though for these two because "I can't seem to ..." leads to numerous other collocations.

Just the truth · Answer

JTT what do you mean by

1,590 English pages for "I just can't seem to be able to".

JTT: There are not a lot of hits for this collocation but I think that that's in keeping with its nature. It isn't the normal neutral, rather its one of greater emphasis.

=

139,000 English pages for "I just can't seem to".

Not a fair comparison though for these two because "I can't seem to ..." leads to numerous other collocations.

JTT: This collocation is one which is really open ended. It combines with many potential word phrases. It therefore seems natural that the numbers for it will be very high.

The upshot of this is that the structure under discussion is grammatical and it is in use in English.

'i just can't seem to be able to do that'

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