HSK 7–9 grammar · adverb
不由得
不由得 — can't help but
Pattern
+ +
( ) can be left out · other words may come before, between and after
How it works
不由得 marks a reaction that escapes the speaker's control: "can't help but…". The verb that follows is an involuntary response — laughing, crying, sighing, thinking of something.
Examples
听到这话，她不由得笑了。
Tīngdào zhè huà, tā bùyóude xiào le.
Hearing this, she couldn't help laughing.
我不由得想起了童年。
Wǒ bùyóude xiǎngqǐ le tóngnián.
I couldn't help thinking of my childhood.
See it in a story
In the app, 不由得 is underlined wherever it appears in the stories you read, and practised with sentences from them. Free.