can't

See also: cant, cânt, çant, ca'n't, Cant., and Cant

English

Alternative forms

ca'n't (obsolete)

Etymology

can +‎ -n't, since 1706[1] or earlier.[2]

Pronunciation

(General Australian) enPR: känt, IPA^(key): /kaːnt/, [kʰä̃ːnt]
- Audio (AU) (file)
(Indian English) IPA^(key): /kaːɳʈ/
(Received Pronunciation, some US speakers) enPR: känt, IPA^(key): /kɑːnt/, [kʰɑ̃ːnt]
- Audio (UK) (file)
- Rhymes: -ɑːnt
(Scotland, Ireland, Northern England) enPR: känt
(most US speakers, Canada, some Irish speakers) enPR: kănt, IPA^(key): /kænt/, [kæn(ʔ)]
- (æ-tensing) IPA^(key): [kʰẽə̃nt], IPA^(key): [kʰɪ̃ə̃nt]
- Audio (US) (file)
- Rhymes: -ænt
(Southern American English) IPA^(key): [kʰẽɪ̃nt]
- Audio (Southern US) (file)
- Rhymes: -eɪnt
Homophones: cant, Kant (in some dialects)

Verb

can't

Cannot (negative auxiliary[3]); is unable to; does not have the ability to.
Antonyms: be able to, can
I can’t quite get it to work.
- 2012, BioWare, Mass Effect 3 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, OCLC 962368035, PC, scene: Tuchanka:
  Shepard: Mordin, walk away.
  Mordin: Can't do that, Shepard.
  Shepard: I don't have a choice here. Walk away, or I will fire.
Is forbidden to; is not permitted to.
Antonyms: be able to, can, have to, must
You can’t enter the hall without a ticket.
Often followed by be: is logically impossible.
Antonyms: be able to, can, have to, must
The butler can’t be the murderer because he was in London that evening.
- 1750, W[illiam] Ellis, The Country Housewife's Family Companion: Or Profitable Directions for Whatever Relates to the Management and Good Œconomy of the Domestick Concerns of a Country Life, According to the Present Practice of the Country Gentleman's, the Yeoman's, the Farmer's, &c. Wives, in the Counties of Hertford, Bucks, and Other Parts of England: Shewing how Great Savings may be Made in Housekeeping: [...] With Variety of Curious Matters [...] The Whole Founded on Near Thirty Years Experience, London: Printed for James Hodges, at the Looking-glass, facing St. Magnus Church, London-Bridge; and B. Collins, bookseller, at Salisbury, OCLC 837728611, page 157:
  To make Capons […] [S]ome for this Purpoſe make it their Buſineſs after Harveſt-time to go to Markets for buying up Chickens, and between Michaelmas and All-hollantide caponize the Cocks, when they have got large enough to have Stones [i.e., testes] of ſuch a Bigneſs that they may be pulled out; for if they are too little, it can't be done; […]

Usage notes

Some US dialects that glottalize the final /t/ in can’t (/kæn(ʔ)/), in order to differentiate can’t from can, pronounce can as /kɛn/ even when stressed.

Derived terms

you can't say fairer than that

Translations

cannot — see cannot

For other translations, see can and not.

References

Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “can't”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
“can't”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
Arnold M. Zwicky and Geoffrey K. Pullum, Cliticization vs. Inflection: English n’t, Language 59 (3), 1983, pp. 502-513

Anagrams

NCTA, T-Can

[1] Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “can't”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

[2] “can't”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

[3] Arnold M. Zwicky and Geoffrey K. Pullum, Cliticization vs. Inflection: English n’t, Language 59 (3), 1983, pp. 502-513