diff --git a/doc/api/errors.md b/doc/api/errors.md
index 524daa21c515e0..d091e1b8acf1e2 100644
--- a/doc/api/errors.md
+++ b/doc/api/errors.md
@@ -1179,7 +1179,7 @@ To fix the error, open an issue at https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues.
 <a id="ERR_INCOMPATIBLE_OPTION_PAIR"></a>
 ### `ERR_INCOMPATIBLE_OPTION_PAIR`
 
-An option pair is incompatible with each other and can not be used at the same
+An option pair is incompatible with each other and cannot be used at the same
 time.
 
 <a id="ERR_INPUT_TYPE_NOT_ALLOWED"></a>
diff --git a/lib/internal/errors.js b/lib/internal/errors.js
index 3dda42aef9ef33..5b80092ee312de 100644
--- a/lib/internal/errors.js
+++ b/lib/internal/errors.js
@@ -908,7 +908,7 @@ E('ERR_HTTP_INVALID_STATUS_CODE', 'Invalid status code: %s', RangeError);
 E('ERR_HTTP_TRAILER_INVALID',
   'Trailers are invalid with this transfer encoding', Error);
 E('ERR_INCOMPATIBLE_OPTION_PAIR',
-  'Option "%s" can not be used in combination with option "%s"', TypeError);
+  'Option "%s" cannot be used in combination with option "%s"', TypeError);
 E('ERR_INPUT_TYPE_NOT_ALLOWED', '--input-type can only be used with string ' +
   'input via --eval, --print, or STDIN', Error);
 E('ERR_INSPECTOR_ALREADY_CONNECTED', '%s is already connected', Error);
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-console-tty-colors.js b/test/parallel/test-console-tty-colors.js
index 85a0e61e381170..41e72c3c8513bc 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-console-tty-colors.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-console-tty-colors.js
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ check(false, false, false);
         });
       },
       {
-        message: 'Option "inspectOptions.color" can not be used in ' +
+        message: 'Option "inspectOptions.color" cannot be used in ' +
                  'combination with option "colorMode"',
         code: 'ERR_INCOMPATIBLE_OPTION_PAIR'
       }
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-crypto-keygen.js b/test/parallel/test-crypto-keygen.js
index e052c9a16ab312..e408d54164e659 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-crypto-keygen.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-crypto-keygen.js
@@ -1044,7 +1044,7 @@ const sec1EncExp = (cipher) => getRegExpForPEM('EC PRIVATE KEY', cipher);
     }, {
       name: 'TypeError',
       code: 'ERR_INCOMPATIBLE_OPTION_PAIR',
-      message: `Option "${opt1}" can not be used in combination with option ` +
+      message: `Option "${opt1}" cannot be used in combination with option ` +
                `"${opt2}"`
     });
   }