How to spell can

Is cannot one word or two words? The answer is one word – most of the time. Cannot and can‘t have the same meaning, but can not appears differently in a sentence.

Can’t is a contraction of cannot, and it’s best suited for informal writing. In formal writing and where contractions are frowned upon, use cannot. It is possible to write can not, but you generally find it only as part of some other construction, such as “not only . . . but also.”

Cannot is sometimes also spelled can not. The one–word spelling is by far the more common: Interest rates simply cannot continue at their present level. The contraction can’t is most common in speech and informal writing.

: can not. cannot but or cannot help but or less commonly cannot help.