if can not vs if could not

The phrases 'if can not' and 'if could not' are not directly comparable because they serve different purposes. 'If can not' is incorrect in standard English, as 'can not' should be written as 'cannot' or 'can't'. On the other hand, 'if could not' is correct and is used to express a condition in the past where the ability to do something was not present.

Last updated: March 20, 2024 • 1694 views

if can not

'If can not' is incorrect in standard English. 'Cannot' or 'can't' should be used instead.

The correct forms to use are 'if cannot' or 'if can't' to express a lack of ability in a conditional statement.

Show examples from the web [+]

May 19, 2009 ... That being said, to make the intended interpretation clearer, I think it's better to re- write the sentence if “can not” is being used to imply “choose ...
Jul 22, 2015 ... Every sentence with a "not" in it is negative. I suppose you are really asking if " can not" means the same as "cannot". To which the answer is no, ...
We can also determine that else if can not be one keyword by realizing that keywords are identifiers and we can see from the grammar for an ...
Feb 10, 2016 ... I can live with the restriction not to use cookies but i have an problem if can not get an cert for my domain for securely use it as admin or info ...

Alternatives:

if cannot
if can't

if could not

'If could not' is the correct form to use when expressing a condition in the past where the ability to do something was not present.

Use 'if could not' to talk about a hypothetical situation in the past where the ability to do something was lacking.

Show examples from the web [+]

Apr 26, 2013 ... Since it happens in informal contexts, I am not sure if "could not care less" is the right phrase, or if both are correct and they have slightly ...
I Will Quit Politics If Could Not Prove Discrepancies in NA-122 – Chaudhry Sarwar. Category Latest News Talk Shows Tag I Will Quit Politics If Could Not Prove ...
... SQLITE_ROW){ NSLog(@"row"); } else { // If could not execute the query show the error message on the debugger. NSLog(@"DB Error: %s", ...
lastInsertedRowID = sqlite3_last_insert_rowid(sqlite3Database); } else { // If could not execute the query show the error message on the ...

What Our Customers Are Saying

Our customers love us! We have an average rating of 4.79 stars based on 283,125 votes.
Also check out our 2,100+ reviews on TrustPilot (4.9).

"Thank you!"
Sachi Nakama July 2024
"I have literally been through chat, PI, claude, bard and bing and I got conflicting answers! Thank you! Human intelligence reigns!"
Retha July 2024
"Faster than AI"
CYNTHIA December 2023
"This was very helpful and I personally think this site is the best."
Kaden October 2023
"It was extremely thorough and very helpful!"
imperialelisa October 2023
"7 years without any disappointment. Always 100% satisfied. You guys are the best in the world at what you do. Thank you so much :)"
Zubair Alam October 2023
"In a world of text messages and online communication, this is great to have as a live tool. Thank you."
Selena October 2023
"Without textranch I would be stuck!"
宏祐 October 2023
"Accuracy and fast response. Personal comments from editor. Thank you."
Clh September 2023
"I wasn't aware of this service, it's fascinating and more reliable than standard IA tools available on the internet"
Arturo September 2023
"The fact that you can get reliable fast feedback on your texts."
Vinicius Antonio August 2023
"you guys are better than grammarly i'm being honest here"
ordinary July 2023
"OMG! This is really good than any other text correction tools I've used so far. Highly recommend this."
Vehan July 2023
"Very fast and accurate. thank you."
mojtaba July 2023
"I love this app because it's help to writing skills all of students ♥️"
Tarisini July 2023
"This was exactly the mistake I was looking for, the wording dind´t sound right at first. Better than grammarly!"
Ente July 2023
"The immediate help that I received was reassuring and very satisfactory. Thanks."
priiiyanshuu July 2023
"this helps A LOT for my studies."
kathnunez02 June 2023
"Woow!! I would never have expected such precision! Thank you soooo much!!"
Berta June 2023
"Real Time Editor and not AI. Many Thanks."
Priya June 2023
"The very first thing excites me about Textranch is how much your editors care."
sepideh June 2023
"The fact that texts are checked by human editors rather than by AI, etc. I appreciate this!"
Анна June 2023
"Feel welcome, immediate response, high quality feedback"
martin.roy June 2023
"This is the best app that I have ever seen"
Burulai May 2023

if can not vs if could not

if can not

if could not

Related Comparisons

What Our Customers Are Saying