ずにはいられない - Grammar Discussion

English translation:
can’t help but
can’t stop myself from

Structure:
Verb[ない] + ずにはいられない

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Is this different from わけにはいかない? the both seem to be personal

Hey @ShinobiTay !

Although these seem similar, they have very different nuances.
ずにはいられない has the nuance of ‘cant stop myself from’, while わけにはいかない has the nuance of ‘cannot afford to’.

This means that ずにはいられない is used when you cannot ‘resist’ doing something and わけにはいかない is used when you ‘have’ to do something undesirable since you have an obligation or there is no other option.

困っている人がいたから、助けずにはいられなかった。
Nuance: Someone was in trouble, so I couldn’t ‘resist’ myself from helping them.

勤務中の警察官は、困っている人を助けないわけにはいかない。
Nuance: There is no way that an on duty police officer would not help a person in trouble.

I hope this helps!

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Yes it does! Thank you :slight_smile:

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