(kănˈŏt, kə-nŏtˈ, kă-)
aux.v.The negative form of
can1.
The idiomatic phrase
cannot but has sometimes been criticized as a double negative, perhaps because it has been confused with
can but. The
but of
cannot but, however, means “except,” as it does in phrases such as
no one but, while the
but of
can but has the sense
only, as it does in the sentence
We had but a single bullet left. Both
cannot but and
can but are established as standard expressions. • The construction
cannot help is used with a present participle to roughly the same effect as
cannot but in a sentence such as
We cannot help admiring his courage. This construction usually implies that a person is unable to affect an outcome normally under his or her control. Thus, saying
We could not help laughing at such a remark would imply that one could not suppress one's laughter. • The construction
cannot help but probably arose as a blend of
cannot help and
cannot but; it has the meaning of the first and the syntax of the second:
We cannot help but admire his courage. The construction has sometimes been criticized as a redundancy, but it has been around for more than a century and appears in the writing of many distinguished authors. • The expression
cannot (or
can't)
seem to has occasionally been criticized as illogical, and so it is.
Brian can't seem to get angry does not mean “Brian is incapable of appearing to get angry,” as its syntax would seem to dictate; rather, it means “Brian appears to be unable to get angry.” But the idiom serves a useful purpose, since the syntax of English does not allow a logical equivalent like
Brian seems to cannot get angry; and the
cannot seem to construction is so widely used that it would be pedantic to object to it. See Usage Notes at
but,
help.
