"He can not swim." vs "He cannot swim."

Question

"He can not swim." vs "He cannot swim."

Both "he cannot swim." and "he can not swim." are correct, but the more common and accepted form is "he cannot swim." The contraction "cannot" is widely used in English, and it is more natural to see it written as one word rather than two separate words.

Last Updated: April 01, 2024

While grammatically correct, this form is less common than "he cannot swim." It is more natural to use the contraction "cannot" as one word.

Alternatives:

he can't swim.
he is unable to swim.
he is not able to swim.
he is incapable of swimming.
he lacks the ability to swim.

This phrase is the correct way to express that someone is unable to swim. "Cannot" is a contraction of "can not."

Alternatives:

he can't swim.
he is unable to swim.
he is not able to swim.
he is incapable of swimming.
he lacks the ability to swim.

Answer 1

He can not swim.

This phrase is correct but less common in English.

Answer 2

He cannot swim.

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English.

"He can not swim." vs "He cannot swim."

He can not swim.

He cannot swim.

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