Can anyone who knows the language well or is a teacher please tell me what the difference between cannot and will not be able to in the following sentence is?
Here's the sentence:
- John, I am very ill. I am sorry to say that I cannot/will not be able to join you in the meeting tomorrow.
My question is that as I have used tomorrow in that sentence, which means future, Shouldn't I use will not be able to?
"………….that I cannot/will not be able to join you in the meeting tomorrow."
Best Answer
There is no functional difference here, so you can use either cannot or will not be able to.
The reason you can use cannot (present tense) to apply to a future event is because the reason is: (a) true in the present, and (b) known to apply to tomorrow as well (that's the meaning as written, at least).
Your reasoning appears to be that you are describing a future action alone, in which case the future tense would be necessary. But a native speaker would recognize that you are describing the current state of your schedule, which happens to relate to a future event.