Level 5 · Advanced
Can't help but: 不禁
Subj. + 不禁 + Involuntary Reaction
不禁 (bùjīn) means "can't help but" — an emotion or reaction slips out before you can stop it: 看到这张照片，我不禁想起了小时候 "seeing this photo, I couldn't help thinking of my childhood."
It takes short, involuntary reactions: laughing, crying, sighing, remembering. For deliberate actions you failed to resist (eating a third bowl of rice), use 忍不住 instead — 不禁 would sound odd there, and it leans more literary overall.
Examples
看到这张照片，我不禁想起了小时候。
看到這張照片，我不禁想起了小時候。
kàn dào zhè zhāng zhào piàn wǒ bù jīn xiǎng qǐ le xiǎo shí hou
Seeing this photo, I couldn't help but think of my childhood.
听了他的笑话，大家不禁笑了起来。
聽了他的笑話，大家不禁笑了起來。
tīng le tā de xiào hua dà jiā bù jīn xiào le qǐ lai
Hearing his joke, everyone burst out laughing.
她不禁流下了眼泪。
她不禁流下了眼淚。
tā bù jīn liú xià le yǎn lèi
She couldn't hold back her tears.
想到明天的考试，他不禁紧张起来。
想到明天的考試，他不禁緊張起來。
xiǎng dào míng tiān de kǎo shì tā bù jīn jǐn zhāng qǐ lai
Thinking about tomorrow's exam, he couldn't help getting nervous.
Common mistakes
✗ 我不禁吃了三碗饭。
✓ 我忍不住吃了三碗饭。
不禁 is for reactions that escape on their own (laughing, tearing up). For actions you failed to resist, use 忍不住.
Related grammar points
Practice this pattern in graded stories like Moving Day (Part 6) inside the Literate Chinese app.
