Grammar in Action – Can Not

I know the cannot vs. can not conundrum is a little difficult to grasp, so it thought it would be great to give you some examples of "can not" being used in recent transcripts for further clarification.

I'm gonna do everything I can not to give those people the money, and it works for me. (Referring to oil companies)

So if you can not talk when somebody else is talking, that is a plus.

As you can see, if we used cannot in these instances, it would significantly alter the intended meaning, because cannot implies that you are incapable of doing something. In these sentences, there is an inherent choice to be made.