can't help

English

(idiomatic) Is unable to avoid a situation, or stop something from happening.
I can't help crying whenever I see "Romeo and Juliet".

not be able to avoid something

Chinese:
Cantonese: 忍唔住 (jan² m⁴ zyu⁶)

Mandarin: 忍不住 (zh) (rěnbuzhù), 不禁 (zh) (bùjīn)
French: ne pouvoir s'empêcher de, ne pas pouvoir ne pas (fr)
German: nicht umhin können, nicht lassen können

Italian: non poter fare a meno di, non potere fare a meno di, non poterci fare niente
Japanese: ...しないではいられない (...shinaide-wa irarenai)
Korean: 안 … -ᆯ(할) 수 없다 (an … l(hal) su eopda)
Russian: не мочь не (ne močʹ ne)
Spanish: no poder evitar de, no poder dejar de

Only negative forms of can help have this meaning of cannot avoid.
No one can help laughing when he comes on stage.
Can help can have the meaning of be able to avoid only when the context has already established the use of can't help.
- A: I can't help being scared.
- B: Of course you can help it.
This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund or, with but, the bare infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs.
I can't help agreeing with you.

I can't help but agree with you.

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.