I m trying to break myself of bad habits. When I say, "I can t," it either means I really can t or I just don t want to do it. Can t cannot be subjected to gradation right?
I was more interested in the word play of how people use can't when they can.
Anonymous
Can't isn't an absolute adjective, neither is it a verb. Can't is a contraction of a verb and an adverb.
"Can" - verb
"Not" - adverb
An absolute adjective is an adjective that cannot be used in comparative sentences. They are adjectives that are or aren't. For example, the adjective "dead." One is either dead or not dead; there is no in between.
Lady Morgana
It isn't an adjective or a verb, as your other answerers have said. It is a modal.
?
Can't isn't an adjective. It's a verb. And you can modify verbs.
I can't do that.
I just can't do that.
I really can't do that.
Maybe I can't do that.