Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: can o can't in americano

Come fanno gli americani a distinguere "can" da "can't"? A me spesso 
suonano uguali...
-- 
Armando di Matteo <a r m y ONE NINE EIGHT SEVEN AT e m a i l DOT i t>
Vuolsi così colà dove si puote / ciò che si vuole; più non dimandare.
[  T  H  I  S     S  P  A  C  E     I  S     F  O  R     R  E  N  T  ]

 
Except for those times when it's necessary to emphasize the word "can," it's 
usually pronounced as though there's no "A" in it: c'n.
I c'n help you do anything.
as opposed to
I can't help you do anything.
"I c'n see Alaska from my house!
No,  can't see Alaska from my house; I was lying, as usual." (Sarah Palin)
I c'n try to explain this, but it's more or less intuitive.
I can't figure out how to explain this very well.
For those occasions where it's necessary to emphasize "can," it's pretty 
clear that the word ends in "N" and not "T".
Yes! I CAN help you!
No! I CAN'T help you!
(Did that help you? I can't be sure... but I c'n keep trying... :)
-- 
Joe/Joey da New York
English as she is spoken (and sometimes written) in the US.
"English as She Is Spoke" is the common name of a 19th century book credited 
to Josï¿œ da Fonseca and Pedro Carolino, which was intended as a 
Portuguese-English conversational guide or phrase book, but is regarded as a 
classic source of unintentional humour.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_As_She_Is_Spoke

 
More thoughts on the subject. 
Even when you have sentences like
"I can tell you what I know." (where "can" is pronounced "can")
and
"I can't tell you what I know."
the distinction is made because in the second sentence, the two "T's" are 
pronounced, much like double consonants in Italian.


 I can't help you do anything.
e' vero! non ci avevo mai pensato.
ora la so anche formalizzare, la regola, oltre che padroneggiare.
:-P
-- 
 >Giovanni


La "t" non la senti?

 La "t" non la senti?
No, because they don't usually pronounce it. The only difference you can 
perceive is where the stress goes. If it's on "can", then it's "can't". 
If it's on the following verb, then it's "can".
Ciao,
Enrico il Pentolaio.

 If it's on the following verb, then it's "can".
Non lo sapevo. Ora capisco perché amo più l'inglese britannico...

):

I respectfully disagree. The T is pronounced, but only minimally, as a 
discreet tongue flap, but enough to be discerned. The rest of what you say is 
true, though, regarding the stress.
One of my favorite songs has the line "If you don't want to ride this roller 
coaster..." but it's sung (and would probably be spoken as) 'F you don't want 
to ride ..."
A Belgian friend visiting a while ago asked why "Few don't want to ride this 
roller-coaster," and I had to explain it was "IF you..." Same concept: 
clearly audible and understandable to a native speaker; not so to a 
foreigner, even one with a fairly good command of English.
It made me realize that very often "If you" is pronounced "'F you" in 
ordinary speech.


Joe/Joey da New York wrote:
English as she is spoken (and sometimes written) in the US.
"English as She Is Spoke" is the common name of a 19th century book 
credited
to Josï¿œ da Fonseca and Pedro Carolino, which was intended as a
Portuguese-English conversational guide or phrase book, but is regarded 
as a
classic source of unintentional humour.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_As_She_Is_Spoke
--------------------------------------------------------
if only i knew portoguese....
anyway it reminds me of All your base are belong to us. do you know? :-)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_your_base_are_belong_to_us
-- 
 >Giovanni

 roller-coaster," 
ah the misheard lyrics...there were sites about this stuff, if i'm not 
mistaken.
by heart...
theantsaremyfriends.com
obviously from the answer my friend :-)))
I myself once misheard worn instead of warm.
I might add to my defence that my choice would have sounded much more 
poetich while instead warm was rather trivial...
"Oh baby...I'm so warm inside" -> trivial
"Oh baby...I'm so worn inside (by the love I feel for you, that consumes 
my very flesh)" -> a whole other thing don't you think?
some of these days I might as well say two words about the song itself, 
but please don't let me :-))))
-- 
 >Giovanni

 anyway it reminds me of All your base are belong to us. do you know? :-)
Yes! I remember the phrase but I didn't know the source until now. Thanks!
-- 
Joe/Joey da New York
English as she is spoken (and sometimes written) in the US.


 but please don't let me :-))))
Don't "let" you? I might "ask" you to... :)
PS: 'poetic' no 'h' on the end.


 PS: 'poetic' no 'h' on the end.
just mistyped but thank you.
ciao ciao
-- 
 >Giovanni

 Non lo sapevo. Ora capisco perch� amo pi� l'inglese britannico...
Mii quanto sei antipatico!
E sei inutile in questo thread. Pure.
Per poter (far finta di) essere utile, aggiunto che concordo col Pentolaio e 
un po' meno col caro Joey. Aggiunto che per me � la stessa cosa del Bart 
(metropolitna di SF) e bar. Ossia che in can't non la pronunci ma sai che 
c'� e quindi la parola finisce prima di can, � pi� secca.
ciao, J. 

 
You and 'Arry Potter have made a good point. I've been walking around for a 
day or two mumbling things like
"I can't understand the problem!"
"I can't tell the difference between the two."
"I can't begin to tell you..."
"I can't figure out how explain what I mean..."
(by now my neighbors are wondering if I've slipped a cog.* :)
I had previously mentioned the slight tongue flap that occurs in "can't" but 
not in "can," and I've come to the conclusion that it's more of a halt in 
voicing the "n", cutting it short, so to speak. So yes, Janis, that's a 
better explanation: it's shorter; it's cut short.
Not to overlook the normal pronunciation of "can" as "c'n" in unstressed 
usage, but that's not really the problem here it seems.
*slipped a cog: begun to lose it [my mind]. 



Did you ever make it to the Big Apple?
Joe from Massachusetts


We do pronounce it, you just can't hear it, especially if the following word
begins with "t".
Joe from Massachusetts

 :-)
"I can't hide" (I Want to Hold Your Hand) -> "I get high". (And I'm not 
alone in that: Bob Dylan heard it the same way I did. Actually, "I get 
high" makes little sense in that context, but hindsight's always 20/20.)




Bah, ci sta quel matto di Jim Morrison che non rilascia una plosiva 
finale manco a pagarlo... Finché è "ride the sna'e" è abbastanza chiaro 
che intende "snake", ma quando inizia a essere "I can' / see your face / 
in my mind"... â poi vedè o nno 'sta faccia n'â mente tua?
