Can vs Do - What's the difference?
can | do |
To know how to; to be able to.
* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author=
, title= May; to be permitted or enabled to.
To be possible, usually with be .
* {{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers)
, chapter=5, title= To know.
* ca.1360-1387 , (William Langland), (Piers Plowman)
* ca.1360-1387 , (William Langland), (Piers Plowman)
* (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
A more or less cylindrical vessel for liquids, usually of steel or aluminium.
A container used to carry and dispense water for plants (a watering can ).
A tin-plate canister, often cylindrical, for preserved foods such as fruit, meat, or fish.
(US, slang) toilet, bathroom.
(US, slang) buttocks.
(slang) jail or prison.
(slang) headphones.
(obsolete) A drinking cup.
* Tennyson
To preserve, by heating and sealing in a can or jar.
to discard, scrap or terminate (an idea, project, etc.).
To shut up.
(US, euphemistic) To fire or dismiss an employee.
(auxiliary)
(auxiliary)
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4
, passage=“Well,” I answered, at first with uncertainty, then with inspiration, “he would do splendidly to lead your cotillon, if you think of having one.” ¶ “So you do not dance, Mr. Crocker?” ¶ I was somewhat set back by her perspicuity.}}
(auxiliary)
* , chapter=7
, title= (auxiliary)
To perform; to execute.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-21, author=(Oliver Burkeman)
, volume=189, issue=2, page=48, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= (obsolete) To cause, make (someone) (do something).
* 1590 , (Edmund Spenser), ''(The Faerie Queene), II.vi:
* W. Caxton
* Spenser
* Bible, 2 Cor. viii. 1
(transitive) To suffice.
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4
, passage=“Well,” I answered, at first with uncertainty, then with inspiration, “he would do splendidly to lead your cotillon, if you think of having one.” ¶ “So you do not dance, Mr. Crocker?” ¶ I was somewhat set back by her perspicuity.}}
* 1922 , (Margery Williams), (The Velveteen Rabbit)
To be reasonable or acceptable.
To have (as an effect).
To fare; to succeed or fail.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= (chiefly in questions) To have as one's job.
To cook.
* ,
, passage=It seemed, from his account, that he was very good at doing scrambled eggs.}}
* {{quote-news, 1944, , , News from the Suburbs, Punch
, passage=We went down below, and the galley-slave did some ham and eggs, and the first lieutenant, who was aged 19, told me about Sicily, and time went like a flash.}}
* {{quote-book, 2005, Alan Tansley, The Grease Monkey, page=99, pageurl=http://books.google.com/books?id=V63jCdQpv2kC&pg=PA99
, passage=Next morning, they woke about ten o'clock, Kev, went for a shower while Alice, did some toast, put the kettle on, and when he came out, she went in.}}
To travel in, to tour, to make a circuit of.
* {{quote-book, 1869, Louisa May Alcott, Little Women, edition=1957 ed., page=, pageurl=
, passage=We 'did ' London to our heart's content, thanks to Fred and Frank, and were sorry to go away,
* {{quote-book, 1892, James Batchelder, Multum in Parvo: Notes from the Life and Travels of James Batchelder, page=97
, passage=After doing Paris and its suburbs, I started for London
* {{quote-news, 1968, July 22, Ralph Schoenstein, Nice Place to Visit, New York Magazine
, passage=No tourist can get credit for seeing America first without doing New York, the Wonderful Town, the Baghdad-on-Hudson, the dream in the eye of the Kansas hooker
To treat in a certain way.
* {{quote-news, 1894, , , , Harper's
, passage=They did me well, I assure you — uncommon well: Bellinger of '84; green chartreuse fit for a prince;
* 1928 , , "The Abominable History of the Man with Copper Fingers", in (Lord Peter Views the Body) ,
* {{quote-book, 1994, Jervey Tervalon, Understand This, page=50
, passage="Why you gonna do me like that?" I ask. "Do what?" "Dog me."}}
To act or behave in a certain manner; to conduct oneself.
* Bible, 2 Kings xvii. 34
To spend (time) in jail.
To impersonate or depict.
(slang) To kill.
* '>citation
* {{quote-book, 2007, E.J. Churchill, page=153, pageurl=http://books.google.com/books?id=ytW6LcwIrXQC&pg=PA153, The Lazarus Code
, passage=The order came and I did him right there. The bullet went right where it was supposed to go.}}
(slang) To have sex with. (See also do it )
* {{quote-book, c. 1590, William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus, section=Act IV, scene II, pageurl=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Tragedy_of_Titus_Andronicus
, passage=Demetrius'': "Villain, what hast thou done?"
''Aaron'': "That which thou canst not undo."
''Chiron'': "Thou hast undone our mother."
''Aaron : "Villain, I have done thy mother."}}* {{quote-book, 1996, James Russell Kincaid, My Secret Life, page=81, pageurl=http://books.google.com/books?id=q2cQiUtWftwC&pg=PA82
, passage=
* {{quote-book, 2008, On the Line, Donna Hill, page=84
, passage=The uninhibited woman within wanted to do him right there on the countertop, but I remained composed.}}
To cheat or swindle.
* De Quincey
To convert into a certain form; especially, to translate.
(intransitive) To finish.
(UK, dated, intransitive) To work as a domestic servant (with for ).
* 1915 , Frank Thomas Bullen, Recollections
(archaic, dialectal, transitive, auxiliary) Used to form the present progressive of verbs.
* 1844 , William Barnes, Evenén in the Village , Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect:
(stock exchange) To cash or to advance money for, as a bill or note.
(informal) To make or provide.
(colloquial) A party, celebration, social function.
* 2013 , Russell Brand, Russell Brand and the GQ awards: 'It's amazing how absurd it seems' '' (in ''The Guardian , 13 September 2013)[http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2013/sep/13/russell-brand-gq-awards-hugo-boss]
(informal) A hairdo.
(colloquial, obsolete) A period of confusion or argument. (rfex)
Something that can or should be done (usually in the phrase dos and don'ts ).
(obsolete) A deed; an act.
(archaic) ado; bustle; stir; to-do
* Selden
(obsolete, UK, slang) A cheat; a swindler.
(rare)
In lang=en terms the difference between can and do
is that can is headphones while do is abbreviation of lang=en.In obsolete terms the difference between can and do
is that can is a drinking cup while do is a deed; an act.As verbs the difference between can and do
is that can is to know how to; to be able to while do is A syntactic marker in questions.As nouns the difference between can and do
is that can is a more or less cylindrical vessel for liquids, usually of steel or aluminium while do is a party, celebration, social function.As initialisms the difference between can and do
is that can is the Andean Community of Nations while DO is a direct object.As an abbreviation Can
is an alternative spelling of Can.|lang=en.As an adverb do is
abbreviation of lang=en.can
English
(wikipedia can)Etymology 1
From (etyl) (m) (first and third person singular of , Danish (m). More at canny, cunning.Verb
Lee S. Langston, magazine=(American Scientist)
The Adaptable Gas Turbine, passage=Turbines have been around for a long time—windmills and water wheels are early examples. The name comes from the Latin turbo'', meaning ''vortex , and thus the defining property of a turbine is that a fluid or gas turns the blades of a rotor, which is attached to a shaft that can perform useful work.}}
A Cuckoo in the Nest, passage=The most rapid and most seductive transition in all human nature is that which attends the palliation of a ravenous appetite.
- I can rimes of Robin Hood.
- I can no Latin, quod she.
- Let the priest in surplice white, / That defunctive music can .
Usage notes
* For missing forms, substitute inflected forms of be able to , as: ** I might be able to go. ** I was able to go yesterday. ** I have been able to go, since I was seven. ** I had been able to go before. ** I will be able to go tomorrow. * The word could also suffices in many tenses. "I would be able to go" is equivalent to "I could go", and "I was unable to go" can be rendered "I could not go". (Unless there is a clear indication otherwise, "could verb''" means "would be able to ''verb''", but "could not ''verb''" means "was/were unable to ''verb ".) * The present tense negative can not'' is often contracted to ''cannot'' or ''can't . * The use of can'' in asking permission sometimes is criticized as being impolite or incorrect by those who favour the more formal alternative ''"may I...?" . * Can'' is sometimes used rhetorically to issue a command, placing the command in the form of a request. For instance, ''"Can you hand me that pen?"'' as a polite substitution for ''"Hand me that pen." * Some US dialects that glottalize the final /t/ in can't'' ( even when stressed.Synonyms
* be able to * mayAntonyms
* cannot * can’tSee also
*Etymology 2
From (etyl) canne, from (etyl) .Noun
(en noun)- (Shakespeare)
- Fill the cup and fill the can , / Have a rouse before the morn.
Synonyms
* (cylindrical metal container) tinDerived terms
* beer can * can opener * carry the can * garbage can * kick at the can * kick the can / kick-the-can * kick the can down the road * trash canVerb
(cann)- They spent August canning fruit and vegetables.
- He canned the whole project because he thought it would fail.
- Can your gob.
- The boss canned him for speaking out.
Statistics
*do
English
(wikipedia do)Etymology 1
From (etyl) .Verb
Mr. Pratt's Patients, passage=“I don't know how you and the ‘head,’ as you call him, will get on, but I do know that if you call my duds a ‘livery’ again there'll be trouble. It's bad enough to go around togged out like a life saver on a drill day, but I can stand that 'cause I'm paid for it. […]”}}
The tao of tech, passage=The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about […], or offering services that let you "stay up to date with what your friends are doing ",
- Sometimes to doe him laugh, she would assay / To laugh at shaking of the leaues light, / Or to behold the water worke
- My lord Abbot of Westminster did do shewe to me late certain evidences.
- a fatal plague which many did to die
- We do you to wit [i.e. we make you to know] of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia.
- "Here," she said, "take your old Bunny! He'll do to sleep with you!" And she dragged the Rabbit out by one ear, and put him into the Boy's arms.
Welcome to the plastisphere, passage=Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field.}}
Three Men In a Boat
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- Upon my word, although he [my host] certainly did me uncommonly well, I began to feel I'd be more at ease among the bushmen.
citation
- They fear not the Lord, neither do they after the law and commandment.
''Aaron'': "That which thou canst not undo."
''Chiron'': "Thou hast undone our mother."
''Aaron : "Villain, I have done thy mother."}}
citation
- He was not to be done , at his time of life, by frivolous offers of a compromise that might have secured him seventy-five per cent.
- I've left my key in my office in Manchester, my family are at Bournemouth, and the old woman who does for me goes home at nine o'clock.
- ...An' the dogs do''' bark, an' the rooks be a-vled to the elems high and dark, an' the water '''do roar at mill.
- Do they do haircuts there?
- Could you do me a burger with mayonnaise instead of ketchup?
Usage notes
* In older forms of English, when the pronoun thou was in active use and verbs had a distinct second-person singular present-tense form, the verb .Antonyms
* don'tDerived terms
* can do with * do a… * doable * do by * do by halves * do down * doer * do for * do in * do it * do right by * done * do-over * do somebody wrong * do the trick * do time * do up * do well by doing good * do with mirrors * do without * fordo * misdo * redo * overdo * to do with * underdo * undoSee also
Noun
(en noun)- We’re having a bit of a do on Saturday to celebrate my birthday.
- After a load of photos and what-not, we descend the world's longest escalator, which are called that even as they de-escalate, and in we go to the main forum, a high ceilinged hall, full of circular cloth-draped, numbered tables, a stage at the front, the letters GQ, 12-foot high in neon at the back; this aside, though, neon forever the moniker of trash, this is a posh do , in an opera house full of folk in tuxes.
- Nice do !
- (Sir Walter Scott)
- A great deal of do , and a great deal of trouble.
