Correção de frase: Why can't you participate?

Why can't you participate?

Essa frase está correta?

Por que pra mim "can't" não soa certo quando eu falo.

CENTENAS DE EXPRESSÕES DO INGLÊS
Preparamos um plano de estudos para ajudar você a dominar centenas de palavras e expressões do inglês em tempo recorde. EXPERIMENTE AGORA
4 respostas
Ordenar por: Data
  Resposta mais votada
23 127 1.7k
Sim, "Why can't you participate?" está correta.

Uma opção mais formal, igualmente correta: Why can you not participate?
Let's try another auxiliary verb (other than can) and see if that helps. We would say "Why DO you not go to the dentist?", but we wouldn't say "Why DO NOT you go to the dentist?" Right? And the reason for that is that the not is an adverb that wants to modify the main verb, not the auxiliary, so we want it next to the main verb. Now with the contraction, the closest it can get to the main verb is still in front of the subject: "Why DON'T you GO to the dentist?" or "Why CAN'T you go the dentist?" The difference between do not and cannot is that cannot gets written as one word. (I'm not sure why this is so, but it is -- unless you're being extremely emphatic about the not and then you could say, "You can not go to the movies!" We do break it up, however, when we ask the question, just as we break do and not (so that the not can modify the main verb): "Why can you not go to the dentist?" That explains it for me, anyway.
Bons estudos.
ENTENDENDO AS HORAS EM INGLÊS
Nesta aula, a professora Camila Oliveira ensina vários macetes para você nunca mais se confundir na hora de dizer as horas em inglês. ACESSAR AULA
1 24 214
Os falantes nativos de inglês acham-na natural, corriqueira ou encontradiça, e não hesitariam eles mesmos em empregá-la, dependendo do contexto:

"Yeah I got that. Why can't you participate if you live in Quebec?"
"Why can't you participate in certain projects? If your reputation is 90 or higher, you can participate in Elite projects. If your reputation is 80 ..."
"Why can't you participate in tournaments? A nationality thing? I almost feel sorry for you (I said ALMOST feel sorry)."
Então essa frase está correta?
Ou há uma maneira mais formal de fala-la?
1 24 214
Há. Mas ficaria até difícil de entender, além do que a frase poderia se transformar num discurso. Por exemplo, NINGUÉM, mas ninguém mesmo, vai dizer:

"As merrily as the hours tick away, I, imbued with a sense of calm, serenity and straightforward formality, would imensely and nearly as unobtrusively and surreptitiously as silently and as discreetly as a nun expels a flatus like to know why, sir, can you not effectively, abundantly and seriously participate [in our most important, annually held meeting for the National Acommodation of the Poor]?"