to couldn't help but
100
3.7
- phrasal verb
:
no poder evitar
- When Grace saw him, she couldn't help but gasp: he was so young, as young as John.
- couldn't help but notice
- couldn't help but feel
- couldn't help but think
Like people just can't help but be drawn to me.
- Like people just can't help but be drawn to me.
- So much history, he couldn't help but make a pandemic promise.
- And I couldn't help but think this guy's making it look easy.
- And when you watch it, you can't help but feel you're watching somebody think.
- Well, my my husband has a phrase that he can't help but pull the dangling chain.
Examples
-
And I couldn't help but think this guy's making it look easy.
-
The trees were in glory; the eye couldn't help but rest on them.
Fiction book (1990) -
Still, she could not help but wonder why he had stuck by him.
Fiction book (1993) -
Excuse me, uh, this may sound crazy, but I couldn't help but notice you from across the room.
-
I couldn't help but hear the end of that conversation.
-
Well, some of us couldn't help but wonder if she was gone for good.
-
But no invitation from Strange had been forthcoming, and he could not help but feel a little resentful.
Fiction book (1993) -
Clinton, ever sensitive to the political consequences of policy decisions, could not help but be aware of Carter's difficulties.
Academic text (1999) -
So Ash, I couldn't help but notice your t-shirt.
-
After seeing the movie trailer, I couldn't help but feel excited about its release.
Synonyms
∞
3.5
To be unable to stop yourself from doing something
56
3.7
Not be able to stop yourself from doing something because you really want it
24
5.9
Be unable to stop yourself from doing something you want to avoid
Antonyms
How Compelled
100
3.7
291
2.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning follows from 'couldn't' (unable) plus a non-prototypical use of 'help' meaning 'prevent', but the particle 'but' is grammaticalized rather than serving its usual contrasting role. Because the constituents' literal senses do not straightforwardly yield the idiomatic construction, a B1 learner who knows the words may still need exposure to the pattern to be sure of the meaning.
Etymology
Couldn't help but comes from an old use of help that meant 'stop', so if you 'couldn't help' doing something you could not stop yourself, and the but works like 'except'. So, the phrase means 'unable to stop yourself from doing something'.