# "Just can't" instead of "can't just" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 27, 2006, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-cant-instead-of-cant-just/385728 "2006-12-27T07:05:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-cant-instead-of-cant-just/385728/21 "2007-01-02T00:01:03Z")
Maybe people don’t say it in Quebec, **matt** , but I hear it _all the freakin’ time_. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-cant-instead-of-cant-just/385728/22 "2007-01-02T05:20:26Z")
“Just” is a word whose precise position in a sentence can be quite important. “Only” is another. And of course many people are not precise in their speech. 1. Only I saw the car. 2. I only saw the car. 3. I saw only the car. 4. I saw the only car. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-cant-instead-of-cant-just/385728/23 "2007-01-02T15:25:38Z")
[QUOTE=Xema] “Just” is a word whose precise position in a sentence can be quite important. “Only” is another. And of course many people are not precise in their speech. 1. Only I saw the car. 2. I only saw the car. 3. I saw only the car. 4. I saw the only car. [/QUOTE] “I saw the car only” works as well. I would use that instead of #3. ---
**Author:** ![Sunrazor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sunrazor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunrazor)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-cant-instead-of-cant-just/385728/24 "2007-01-02T17:29:29Z")
[QUOTE=Frylock] In my ideolect, “one can’t just…” means “it is impossible to simply…” while “one just can’t…” means “It’s simply but emphatically the case that it is impossible to…” The two usages are not interchangeable. [/QUOTE] English grad student here. You’re on the right track, but to clarify: “I just can’t put tomato sauce on spaghetti.” means that no matter how hard I try, I cannot force myself to put tomato sauce on spaghetti. “I can’t just put tomato sauce on spaghetti” means that I cannot stop at putting tomato sauce on the spaghetti, I must put other things on it as well. In the first case, you can delete “just” from the sentence without changing the meaning, although it may lack some of the emphasis you want. In the second case, “just” is essential to convey the correct meaning. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-cant-instead-of-cant-just/385728/25 "2007-01-02T20:08:42Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] “I saw the car only” works as well. I would use that instead of #3. [/QUOTE] I don’t see how that’s superior to “I saw only the car.” In that context “only” is an adverb, and it’s best placed near the verb, absent any particular reason to do otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-cant-instead-of-cant-just/385728/26 "2007-01-02T20:49:08Z")
“I saw the car only” to me sounds more like #2, “I only saw the car”, in that “saw the car” could be the phrase that “only” modifies in both instance, i.e. you were temporarily deaf from a concert and so did not hear the car, _only saw it_. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-cant-instead-of-cant-just/385728/27 "2007-01-02T21:14:50Z")
[QUOTE=RickJay] I don’t see how that’s superior to “I saw only the car.” In that context “only” is an adverb, and it’s best placed near the verb, absent any particular reason to do otherwise. [/QUOTE] Oh, no, I didn’t think it was superior, just the way I might say it. To illustrate that “only” fits anywhere in that sentence. A car and a truck drive by while we were standing there. Me: Oh, I saw the car only. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-cant-instead-of-cant-just/385728/28 "2007-01-02T21:15:52Z")
or \*drove \* by. :smack: Gaudere was at the wheel. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-cant-instead-of-cant-just/385728/29 "2007-01-02T23:19:34Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] Oh, no, I didn’t think it was superior, just the way I might say it. To illustrate that “only” fits anywhere in that sentence. A car and a truck drive by while we were standing there. Me: Oh, I saw the car only. [/QUOTE] That doesn’t sound awkward to you? Anyway, how does that show that it fits “anywhere” in the sentence? Aren’t there still four different meanings in that list? ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2007, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-cant-instead-of-cant-just/385728/30 "2007-01-03T01:23:27Z")
[QUOTE=fetus] That doesn’t sound awkward to you? Anyway, how does that show that it fits “anywhere” in the sentence? Aren’t there still four different meanings in that list? [/QUOTE] I think gigi was illustrating the fact that the word “only” can be placed anywhere in the sentence to produce a grammatical sentence. -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2007, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-cant-instead-of-cant-just/385728/31 "2007-01-03T14:07:49Z")
[QUOTE=fetus] That doesn’t sound awkward to you? [/QUOTE] Somewhat, but it’s a pattern I picked up somewhere and it works for me. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mkl12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@mkl12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mkl12)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2007, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-cant-instead-of-cant-just/385728/32 "2007-01-03T17:20:20Z")
How about: Only I only saw the car. Only I saw only the car. Only I saw the only car. Only I only saw the only car. Only I saw only the only car. But I don’t think these work: I only saw only the car. Only I only saw only the only car. and others with ‘only’ between ‘I’ and ‘saw’ as well as between ‘saw’ and ‘the’. After typing that I almost can’t remember what the word ‘only’ means. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2007, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-cant-instead-of-cant-just/385728/33 "2007-01-03T18:30:01Z")
“You can’t just” and “You just can’t” IMO are both grammatically correct but don’t mean the same thing. “You can’t just” means you are about enumerate one or more things that are requisite elements of something, but not enough to complete it. _You can’t just put a hamburger on a a bun and call it a Big Mac_ (because you also need the cheese, sauce, tomatoes, etc.)\* In “you just can’t”, _just_ is an intensifier: _You just can’t join the freshman class at Berkeley if you flunked out of high school._. In this context its meaning is the same as “sure” or “certainly”, and one may well ask whether such words are necessary in such statements, or if they’re just fillers. John Lennon once said he would never use “just” in a song to make the rhythm right, but maybe there are cases where they add meaning. In everyday conversation, it wouldn’t bother me nearly as much when people don’t use the correct past perfect of words like “run” and “come” when necessary. \*You just can’t walk into the ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2007, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-cant-instead-of-cant-just/385728/34 "2007-01-03T19:55:51Z")
[QUOTE=mkl12] But I don’t think these work: I only saw only the car. [/quote] “I saw the car, but I saw AND heard the police van chasing it, too.” > [@](#): > > Only I only saw only the only car. “I saw the car but saw AND heard the police van, but everyone else saw and heard both of them.” ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2007, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-cant-instead-of-cant-just/385728/35 "2007-01-03T23:48:02Z")
[QUOTE=Ludovic] “I saw the car, but I saw AND heard the police van chasing it, too.” [/QUOTE] It’s ambiguous. Another reading would be “I am the only one who only saw the car.” -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-cant-instead-of-cant-just/385728/36 "2007-01-05T15:35:59Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] Oh, no, I didn’t think it was superior, just the way I might say it. To illustrate that “only” fits anywhere in that sentence. A car and a truck drive by while we were standing there. Me: Oh, I saw the car only. [/QUOTE] Now I’m interested to know where you live. Certainly, the most common phraseology for that though is “I only saw the car” - in most places, the adverb will be placed before the verb. But I’m mostly familiar with Canadian and American phraseology. Where are you from, if I may ask? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-cant-instead-of-cant-just/385728.md?page=1)