can't not have heard

Vladv1

Junior Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2024
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Student or Learner
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Russian
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Russian Federation
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Russian Federation
Is it correct to say " She can't not have heard about the events, they are being discussed everywhere"? The example is mine.
 
Try:

Surely she has heard about the events. Everybody is talking about them.
 
It's not incorrect and it is understandable. Although plenty of native speakers might use it, it strikes me as slightly awkward. I strongly prefer @Tarheel's version.
 
Is it correct to say "She can't not have heard about the events; they are being discussed everywhere"? The example is mine.
Note my corrections above. Don't leave a space after opening quotation marks. You had a comma splice. Between "events" and "they", you need either a semi-colon or a full stop.
Your sentence is possible. It's also possible to say "She can't have not heard about the events ...".
The construction is relatively unlikely from a native speaker. I'd expect something like "I can't believe she hasn't heard about ..." or something along the lines of Tarheel's version.

(Cross-posted with probus)
 
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