Question
24 Nov 2020
- Japanese
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English (US)
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English (UK)
Question about English (US)
What is the difference between He can’t read or write English. and He can’t read and write English. ?Feel free to just provide example sentences.
What is the difference between He can’t read or write English. and He can’t read and write English. ?Feel free to just provide example sentences.
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- English (US)
- Hawaiian Near fluent
@rosewater The first sentence is the proper way to say it.
“He can’t read or write in English.” means he cannot read or write in English at all.
“He can’t read and write in English.” possibly means he can only do one? For example, “He can’t read AND write in English.” meaning he can only read in it.
That’s the only possible difference I can think of.
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- English (US)
The statement “he can’t read and write English is just incorrect.” The reason for this is since your listing two things that cannot be done(are not true) you would use a negative conjunction “or.” If it was a positive statement saying that someone can do something(something is true). You would use “and.” For instance he can read and write English. But if you’re trying to say that he can’t do something you would say “he can’t read or write.” You could say the negative conjunction in the positive statement. Like, “he can read or write.”
‘FANBOYS’ is something very commonly taught in American schools. Which refers to co-ordinating conjunctions. For you to understand this better it would be best if you studied specifically “co-ordinating conjunctions”
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Highly-rated answerer
- English (US)
If you have an English native instructor or teacher. They are very likely to know the word ‘FANBOYS’ by name. Be sure to ask them/ or do more research for study.
Highly-rated answerer
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