"Det kan man ikke."
Translation:One cannot do that.
October 28, 2014
14 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
This discussion is locked.
The second one should be accepted (but isn't, or at least "that one cannot do" isn't); the first is pretty unusual English, really only okay in certain circumstances.
"Can you get there by car?" "That you cannot." This is okay, but maybe overly dramatic. A more usual answer would be "No, you can't." "That you cannot do" is also okay here, but again pretty dramatic.
"I am going home." "That you cannot." This is wrong. Here you would need to say "That you cannot do," or more typically "You can't do that."
(US English.)