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情不自禁

qíng bù zì jīn

HSK 3.0 level 7-9 4-character word

情不自禁 (qíng bù zì jīn) means "unable to restrain emotions; cannot help". It is an HSK 3.0 level 7-9 word, and was not on the old six-level HSK list.

What 情不自禁 means

1. idiomcannot refrain from; cannot help; cannot but

The characters in 情不自禁

• 情qíng(bound form) feelings; emotion; sentiment; passion; (bound form) situation; condition
• 不bùno; not so; (bound form) not; un-
• 自zì(bound form) self; oneself; from; since; naturally; as a matter of course
• 禁jìnto prohibit; to forbid

Example sentences

• 对不起， 我情不自禁。
  Duìbuqǐ, wǒ qíngbùzìjīn.
  Sorry, I couldn't help it.
• 虽然她有许多缺点，但我却情不自禁地爱着她。
  Suīrán tā yǒu xǔduō quēdiǎn, dàn wǒ què qíngbùzìjīn de ài zhe tā.
  I cannot help loving her in spite of her many faults.

Go deeper

• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read qíng bù zì jīn correctly.
• Look up another word in the free dictionary.