Can vs Ask - What's the difference?
can | ask |
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.
To request (information, or an answer to a question).
To put forward (a question) to be answered.
To interrogate or enquire of (a person).
* Bible, John ix. 21
To request or petition; usually with for .
* Bible, Matthew vii. 7
To require, demand, claim, or expect, whether by way of remuneration or return, or as a matter of necessity.
* Addison
To invite.
To publish in church for marriage; said of both the banns and the persons.
(figuratively) To take (a person's situation) as an example.
*
An act or instance of asking.
* 2005 , Laura Fredricks, The ask :
Something asked or asked for; a request.
* 2008 , Doug Fields, Duffy Robbins, Speaking to Teenagers :
An asking price.
An eft; newt.
* 1876 , S. Smiles, Scottish Naturalist :
A lizard.
As nouns the difference between can and ask
is that can is song while ask is amplitude shift keying.As a verb can
is (lb).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
*ask
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) asken, from (etyl) .Verb
(en verb)- I asked her age.
- to ask a question
- I'm going to ask this lady for directions.
- He is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself.
- to ask for a second helping at dinner
- to ask for help with homework
- Ask , and it shall be given you.
- What price are you asking for the house?
- An exigence of state asks a much longer time to conduct a design to maturity.
- Don't ask them to the wedding.
- (Fuller)
Usage notes
* This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive . See * Pronouncing ask as /æks/ is a common example of metathesis and a feature of some varieties of English, notably African American Vernacular English (AAVE). * The action expressed by the verb ask'' can also be expressed by the noun-verb combination ''pose a question'' (confer the parallel in German between ''fragen'' and ''eine Frage stellen ).Derived terms
* ask after * ask around * ask for * ask in * ask out * ask over * ask round * for the asking * no questions asked * outaskNoun
(en noun)- To ask for a gift is a privilege, a wonderful expression of commitment to and ownership of the organization. Getting a yes to an ask can be a rush, but asking for the gift can and should be just as rewarding.
- Communication researchers call this the foot-in-the-door syndrome. Essentially it's based on the observation that people who respond positively to a small “ask'” are more likely to respond to a bigger “' ask ” later on.
Etymology 2
From (etyl) aske, arske, from (etyl) .Alternative forms
*Noun
(en noun)- He looked at the beast. It was not an eel. It was very like an ask .