不禁／不由得
cannot help (doing); in spite of oneself
Structure
主语 不禁／不由得 动词（笑、哭、想起、感叹…）
What it means
“Cannot help (doing)”: a feeling gets the better of you, and you cry, laugh, sigh, remember or worry in spite of yourself.
How it is built
Subject + 不禁／不由得 + verb: 奶奶不禁想起了年轻的时候 (Grandma found herself thinking of her youth). 不由得 can also open a clause: 不由得我不信.
When to use it
不禁 is more written and goes straight before the verb; 不由得 is a little more colloquial. Typical verbs: 笑, 哭, 感叹, 想起, 流下眼泪.
Watch out
✗ 我不禁买了票。 Neither goes with a deliberate action. Neither means “have to”: that is 不得不 (我不得不走).
Examples
念着念着，阿姨的眼圈红了，佳佳也不禁哭了起来。
As she went on, her mother’s eyes filled, and Jiajia could not help crying too.
爸爸把她的手交给新郎的时候，我不由得流下了眼泪。
When her father gave her hand to the groom, the tears came before I could stop them.
看着这些老照片，奶奶不禁想起了自己年轻的时候。
Looking at the old photos, Grandma found herself thinking back to her own youth.
Learn this in Lesson 42 · HSK 5–6: 婚礼这一天 (The wedding day)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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