triadruid: Apollo and the Raven, c. 480 BC , Pistoxenus Painter (Default)
triadruid ([personal profile] triadruid) wrote2008-08-07 01:43 pm
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Grammaraticianing

Based on a conversation the other day, humor me.

[Poll #1236826]
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[identity profile] fionnabhar.livejournal.com 2008-08-07 07:10 pm (UTC)(link)
Except in the first one, I think, which could, given the context. "Because my baby-sitter is my daughter, I can often not pay her." That means I can get away with not doing it, not that I often do pay her.
Edited 2008-08-07 19:11 (UTC)

[identity profile] featherynscale.livejournal.com 2008-08-07 07:17 pm (UTC)(link)
Ok. For some reason I am not processing the 'get away with it' connotation of 'can'. Carry on.

[identity profile] fionnabhar.livejournal.com 2008-08-07 07:22 pm (UTC)(link)
It's not with the "can," though. The construct is that "not-pay" becomes the opposite of "pay." What can you do? You can not-pay.

[identity profile] margaretq.livejournal.com 2008-08-08 10:50 pm (UTC)(link)
I am stuck there too. I often cannot open this web site... I often can not get this stupid thing to work. I can not often deal with the dingbats that call my work (that is a BAD sentence). I cannot often make time to do X with my stupid schedule....
that's how I read this...
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