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禁不住 (jīn bu zhù) — can't help (doing something); can't bear / can't withstand

Definition

Covers two senses: a physical ‘can’t bear’ (a weight, a force) and an emotional ‘can’t help’ (a feeling breaks through). Unlike 不禁, it stresses that the feeling is too strong to hold back, and unlike 受不了 it isn’t about ongoing endurance.

verb
can't help (doing something)can't bear / can't withstand

Examples

  • ，禁不住。
    Kàn dào zhè ge xiào hua, wǒ jīn bu zhù xiào le qǐ lái.
    Seeing this joke, I couldn't help laughing.
  • 禁不住。
    Zhè zuò qiáo jīn bu zhù zhè me dà de kǎ chē.
    This bridge can't bear such a large truck.
  • 禁不住，。
    Tā jīn bu zhù nèi xīn de jī dòng, liú xià le yǎn lèi.
    She couldn't help her inner excitement and shed tears.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

禁jìnbear
不住not hold fast
不bùnot住zhùhold fast
偏正Modifier + head

禁 means 'bear', 不 means 'not', and 住 means 'hold fast', so 禁不住 is unable to bear or hold back.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
示示shìaltar
Sound part声符shēngfú
林
林lín禁jìn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

禁 has 林 above 示, an altar. The 林 part gives the sound, and the altar part connects the character to taboo or restricted matters.

Open 禁 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Open 不 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
主
主zhǔ住zhù
Same sound today

住 pairs 亻, the person radical (written fully as 人), with 主, which supplies the sound.

Open 住 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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