cannot
できない
解説 Definition
できない、してはいけないという意味です。can not を一語にした形で、能力がない場合や許可されていない場合に使います。話し言葉でも書き言葉でもよく使われます。
Cannot is the negative form of the modal verb can. It indicates that someone lacks the ability or opportunity to do something, or that an action is not permitted or possible.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
cannotは助動詞canとnotが一語になった標準的な否定形で、「能力がなくできない」と「規則・事情により許されない」の両方を表す。I cannot swimなら能力、You cannot enterなら禁止・不許可である。会話の短縮形はcan't。通常はcan notと離さず、cannotと綴ると覚える。
See cannot as can plus not written together. It has two central uses: lack of ability, as in “I cannot swim,” and lack of permission or possibility, as in “You cannot enter.” The following verb stays in its base form, without to: cannot swim, cannot come, and cannot enter. In conversation, cannot is often shortened to can’t, while the full form can sound more formal or emphatic. As a general spelling rule, write cannot as one word.
例文
I cannot swim.
私は泳げません。
You cannot enter this room.
この部屋には入れません。
She cannot come to school today.
彼女は今日学校に来られません。
cannot の類義語・関連語
cannot の語源・成り立ち Etymology
can（古英語 cunnan＝知る・できる）と not の結合形で、16世紀頃から一語として定着。語根のゲルマン祖語 *kunnaną は「知る」が原義で、能力の意味に転じた。関連語: know（知る、同根）、cunning（狡猾な、元は「知識ある」）。
Cannot is a compound of can and not, established as a single written form in the sixteenth century. Can descends from Old English cunnan, which originally meant “to know” or “know how to” and later developed its modern sense of ability. Not supplies the negative meaning. The separate spelling can not exists in limited constructions, but cannot is the normal negative form of the modal verb.
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