引用
最初由 hyddx 发布
can not 可以分吧，只是很生硬
一般都是can't
can't 是 informal，cannot 才是 formal。
Cannot, can not, and can’t
http://georgechen.idv.tw/wordpress/?p=18Sep 6th, 2005 by George Chen
语言是一种摆荡在约定俗成与积非成是之间的产物。有时候看似松散，却无形之中有一股力量在引导、规范。就以 cannot, can not, 与 can’t 之间的是是非非来看吧。
Collins COBUILD English Usage, 1992 HarperCollins Publishers 关于 cannot 的说明放在 can – could – be able to 这一项底下：
negative forms
The negative form of ‘can’ is cannot or can’t.
Cannot is never written ‘can not’. The negative form of ‘could’ is could not or couldn’t. …
Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th Edition, 2004 在 cannot 里有这样的说明：
[Usage] Both the one-word form cannot and the two-word form can not are acceptable,
but cannot is far more common. Reserve the two-word form for constructions in which not is part of a set phrase, such as ‘not only … but (also)’: Paul can not only sing well, he also paints brilliantly.
牛津大学出版社 (Oxford University Press) 在一九九六年出版的 The New Fowler’s Modern English Usage, third edition 由 R.W. Burchfield 修订。(附注：Burchfield 是牛津大辞典 (OED) 补编本的主编，一九七二年到一九八六年间，主导编辑四本补编本，将 OED 从十三本扩充到十七本。) 这本用法书里这样写着：
Cannot. This is normally written as one word (rather than can not) and is often pronounced like the reduced form can’t. One encounters can not occasionally in letters, examination scripts, etc.; the division seems more to do with custom ( ‘I have always written it this way’) than with emphasis. The reduced form can’t, which now seems to natural, is relatively recent in origin.
以上这些可以视为英国人的观点。那么美国人怎么看呢？
我引用 Bryan A. Garner 编写的 A Dictionary of Modern American Usage, OUP 1998 的说法 (Garner 在用法上的权威大致有英国 Fowler 的份量)：
cannot should not appear as two words, except in the rare instances when the not is part of another construction (such as not only … but also) … Cannot is preferable to can’t in formal writing.
再看另一本辞典 The New Oxford American Dictionary，OUP 2001，在 cannot 的说明里写着：
USAGE Both the one word form cannot and the two word form can not are acceptable,
but cannot is far more common in all contexts. Indeed, can not has come to be so unusual that it may be read as an error. The two-word form is advised only in a construction in which not is part of a set phrase, such as ‘not only … but (also)’: Stevenson can not only sing well, but he paints brilliantly.
(以上的说法与 COED, 11 edition 很像，不排除有互相参考的可能。有趣的是，到了美国竟然被视为有“错误”的嫌疑。)
而在 can’t 的说明只有短短几个字如下：contraction of cannot。
综合以上英美两国的资料来看，
can not 分开写的方式不是被视为错误，就是极为罕用。相反的，cannot 被认为是正式的使用方式。至于 can’t 一般只当成 cannot 的缩写形式 (contraction)，而且是比较后来才出现的写法，少有单独讨论。
关于 contraction 的使用原则，在上述 Bryan A. Garner 的用法书里提到的一段话颇有参考价值：
Many writers, especially those who write in formal situations, feel uncomfortable with contractions. And perhaps contractions don’t generally belong in scholarly journals.
But why shouldn’t writers use them in most other types of writing? Some excellent writers use contractions to good effect, even in books.
选择使用哪一种方式，端看使用场合，而没有证据显示英美国别的使用差异。
引用
最初由 eternal_dungeon 发布
先不說他會不會英語
德國就只有德語一種官方語言而已
德国在中欧，应该有英语课吧。
楼上的，你说的 QQ 我下载到，请先登录邮箱。
