Does the following make any sense?
"I will can"
I saw a post where someone wrote "I will can". Is this grammatically right or wrong?
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7I will can the dogfood once it is cooked. Then I will label the cans.– Nigel JCommented May 21, 2018 at 8:40
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It depends on whether "can" is being used a modal auxiliary verb or a lexical verb. In the latter use it's fine: "I will can the pilchards", but as a modal it cannot be used directly after another modal, e.g. the ungrammatical *"I will can be there".– BillJCommented May 21, 2018 at 9:44
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4Where did you find that example, and is it just a clip from a larger construction?– BillJCommented May 21, 2018 at 9:52
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Sorry, but you most likely saw a post that said: "I will can" plus something else. What was it?– LambieCommented May 21, 2018 at 11:36
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1“I can can cans of peas all the livelong day; can’t you?” cannily quipped the can-can dancer between kicks. :)– tchrist ♦Commented May 21, 2018 at 16:58
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1 Answer
The non-standard double modal construction — although here you're talking about a periphastic future where can functions as the infinitive — is a feature of everyday speech in the North of England, Scotland, then through Northern Ireland to the American South. In reference to the latter usage, the Yale Grammatical Diversity Project prefers the term multiple modals, since including quasimodals, the number is occasionally not limited to two:
I reckon I might should better try to get me a little bit more sleep.
Not all possible combinations appear, and even those theoretically allowed by the grammar of this construction are neither in use in all four regions nor of equal frequency, even among individual speakers.
| phrase | Scotland | North of England | Southern United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| might could | ☑️ | ☑️ | ☑️ |
| might can | ☑️ | x | ☑️ |
| might would | ☑️ | x | ☑️ |
| might should | ☑️ | x | ☑️ |
| might will | x | x | ☑️ |
| will can | ☑️ | ☑️ | x |
| would could | ☑️ | ☑️ | x |
| must can | x | x | ☑️ |
| must could | x | negative ☑️ | ☑️ |
| may can | x | x | ☑️ |
| may could | x | x | ☑️ |
| may will | x | x | ☑️ |
| may should | x | x | ☑️ |
(Chart from Double Modals in the British Isles: Scotland and Northern England)
As this chart shows, will can is not used in the American South, so the author of your post must be from one of the other three regions in the UK.
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