Question
18 May
- Korean
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English (US)
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Japanese
Question about English (US)
What is the difference between I don't think I can do it and I think I can't do it ?Feel free to just provide example sentences.
What is the difference between I don't think I can do it and I think I can't do it ?Feel free to just provide example sentences.
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- English (US)
"I don't think I can do it," sounds more natural to me. Most native speakers won't say, "I think I can't do it," but it's not necessarily grammatically wrong. It's just an unnatural phrasing. If you want to use, "I think~" then it's better to say "I think I won't be able to do it."
Probably the reason we don't use "I think I can't do it," is that it sounds too similar to, "I think I can do it," in many accents of English. In my American accent I don't pronounce the /t/ in "can't" and instead differentiate between can/can't with rhythm and a slight nasalization of the vowel in "can't"
Highly-rated answerer
- English (US)
TL;DR please use "I don't think I can do it." The second sentence sounds unnatural
Highly-rated answerer
- English (US)
"I don't think I can do it," is usually the way we say it to be more polite, and it usually means that we thought about doing it, but we can't do it for a certain reason, or we can't do it right now.
- Korean
@KatanaKat9 It was so helpful thank you!
- Korean
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