Confuse With Grammer

[Fatemah]

Hello everyone.

I'm always confused about when to use "it" and when to use "this".
and is there any difference between, can't, cannot, can not.
I have Grammarly on my computer and I always get errors for these words.

Thanks

[jennyjoan]

Grammer is grammar

[Etch]

For it/this, googling "english use of it and this" has brought up the following (amongst others):
https://www.myenglishteacher.eu/blog/difference-between-it-and-this/

[THECORBYLOON]

A lot of folk see no difference between "can not" and "cannot" to mean the same thing.

I tend to use, "cannot" when writing about something I'm not able to do at all.

I'm not able to swim so I would write, "I cannot swim."

As I am able to drive a car, I would write, "I can drive a car." but if I were too busy to drive my sister somewhere, I would write, "I can not drive you to..."

The word, "can't" means, "can not" or "cannot" but is informal and is not usually used in formal writing.

[Peter Pedant]

can't /karnt/ is spoken only
it is never used in writing formally - note the vowel change to a long a.

can not is wrong, it must be cannot.

It and this - is difficult for natural English - we pick up the difference very early - around 5-8 y of age.

[Maydup]

strangely enough, if you just use "can't" which is the shortened version, you wont need to decide between can not and cannot.

I can't drive you to work
replaces I can not drive you to work(I do not have time)
and I cannot drive.(I'm unable to drive)

[Peter Pedant]

"can not" cannot be used

things like "I can not-include him" should be recast as much clearer
I must refuse him
or whatever it is that you are trying to say

[THECORBYLOON]

PP, for me, "cant" and "can't sound the same.

I must admit it does confuse some English folk who think I'm saying, "can" as they pronounce, "can't" the way you do.

[jno]

my Oxford Dictionary says both "can not" and "cannot" are fine, though "cannot" is more common.

And as they say, "The clever men at Oxford, know all that there is to be knowed", and that's good enough for me.

[jennyjoan]

effect and affect is one of the difficult words for a person to understand.

[THECORBYLOON]

The word "affect" is almost always a verb and "effect" is normally a noun.

"E" follows "A" so an "effect" (the result) follows "affect" (the action).

Alternatively,
Affect = Action
Effect = rEsult

[iamnew22]

The new tool Grammarly is amazing it's very cheap and best for writing online if you have a problem with English. I am using this tool for writing blogs and communicating on forums.

[jennyjoan]

yes cbl - that's ok for the English speaking person - but Fatemah - probably a little difficult to understand.

[THECORBYLOON]

I'm not expecting foreign folk to grasp it immediately since many native speakers of English have problems with it but it's only a wee reminder.