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Recluse Posted 18 years ago
Vocabulary
Some doubts that I have
1. Hi! I always hear people saying 'it's him!' ‘that's him'
I once read a book and it said objective cannot follow linking verbs. But then, when I asked my teacher in summer school, everyone laughed at me and saying how could I not know the basic language, and my teacher said 'it's him' is grammaticallty correct.
According to my understanding, if we ask questions such as 'Who is that guy?", we should use the answers such as 'the guy is he' or 'that's he', since we do not use the question 'whom is that guy?'
2. This question bothers me a lot: does 'can't' equal 'can not' or ’cannot'?
I think the correct answer is 'cannot', because if I say 'I can't go to school' what I mean is there are some obstacles or forces that hamper me from going to school; if I, however, say 'I can not go to school' it sounds more like I could go or not go, it's up to my own decision.
But I see many textbooks and writings use 'can not' to mean 'can't', so I am dubious whether the usage of 'can not' is correct.
I once read a book and it said objective cannot follow linking verbs. But then, when I asked my teacher in summer school, everyone laughed at me and saying how could I not know the basic language, and my teacher said 'it's him' is grammaticallty correct.
According to my understanding, if we ask questions such as 'Who is that guy?", we should use the answers such as 'the guy is he' or 'that's he', since we do not use the question 'whom is that guy?'
2. This question bothers me a lot: does 'can't' equal 'can not' or ’cannot'?
I think the correct answer is 'cannot', because if I say 'I can't go to school' what I mean is there are some obstacles or forces that hamper me from going to school; if I, however, say 'I can not go to school' it sounds more like I could go or not go, it's up to my own decision.
But I see many textbooks and writings use 'can not' to mean 'can't', so I am dubious whether the usage of 'can not' is correct.
Top answer
#1 is an argument no longer worth having, as you will find reams of argument on both sides these days. [url=]HERE[/url] is one thread on the topic at EF. #2 in meaning, 'can't' = 'can not' = ’cannot'.
- #1 is an argument no longer worth having, as you will find reams of argument on both sides these days.
- [url=]HERE[/url] is one thread on the topic at EF.
- #2 in meaning, 'can't' = 'can not' = ’cannot'.
- Only the spellings are different.
- You are right, however, that can not can also mean what you said; in such a case, either spoken stress or further explanation is required to differentiate the 2 meanings.
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1 Answers
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#1 is an argument no longer worth having, as you will find reams of argument on both sides these days. [url=]HERE[/url] is one thread on the topic at EF.
#2 in meaning, 'can't' = 'can not' = ’cannot'. Only the spellings are different. You are right, however, that can not can also mean what you said; in such a case, either spoken stress or further explanation is
#1 is an argument no longer worth having, as you will find reams of argument on both sides these days. [url=]HERE[/url] is one thread on the topic at EF.
#2 in meaning, 'can't' = 'can not' = ’cannot'. Only the spellings are different. You are right, however, that can not can also mean what you said; in such a case, either spoken stress or further explanation is
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