HSK 5 · Verbs

忍不住 rěnbuzhù “cannot help” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 忍不住 means

  1. cannot help
  2. unable to bear

How to say 忍不住

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale忍rěn3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the neutral tone: short and light, with no contour of its own不buneutral tone, light and short
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale住zhù4th tone, falling

Grey pinyin is a neutral tone: say it short and light. More on the neutral tone

忍不住 in a sentence

  1. 她忍不住笑了。

    Tā rěnbuzhù xiào le.

    She couldn’t help laughing.

    Sentence #778477 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 我忍不住取笑他的发型。

    Wǒ rěnbuzhù qǔxiào tā de fàxíng.

    I couldn’t help making fun of his haircut.

    Sentence #1407999 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 他再也忍不住气了。

    Tā zàiyě rěnbuzhù qì le.

    He couldn’t hold back his anger any longer.

    Sentence #336439 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 忍不住 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 忍 (rěn) with each of its parts in a different colour
忍rěnto bear
  • 刃edged tool · rèn
  • 心heart · xīn
The character 不 (bù) drawn as one shape
不bùno; not solight in 忍不住

不 is a single shape of 4 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

Memory aidPicture a bar 一 across the top that nothing below can get past: not, no.

The character 住 (zhù) with each of its parts in a different colour
住zhùto live; to reside; to stay
  • 亻person form of 人 · rén
  • 主to own · zhǔ

Memory aidA person 亻 staying where the host 主 lives: to live, to stay. 主 (zhǔ) also gives the sound.

How to write 忍不住

忍 7 strokes · 不 4 strokes · 住 7 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

忍不住 (rěnbuzhù) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 忍不住 (rěnbuzhù). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 忍不住

Words with 忍

残忍cánrěn · cruel忍耐rěnnài · to be patient忍受rěnshòu · to bear容忍róngrěn · to tolerate

Words with 不

不bù · no不要bùyào · don’t!不客气bú kèqi · you’re welcome对不起duìbuqǐ · sorry不错bùcuò · not bad不好意思bùhǎoyìsi · to feel embarrassed不但búdàn · not only不同bùtóng · different不少bùshǎo · quite a few不见bújiàn · to be missing

Words with 住

住zhù · to live住院zhùyuàn · to be in hospital住宅zhùzhái · residence居住jūzhù · to live (in a place)

More words: Common Verbs

去世qùshì · to pass away缺乏quēfá · to lack燃烧ránshāo · to burn绕rào · to wind洒sǎ · to sprinkle杀shā · to kill晒shài · to dry in the sun上当shàngdàng · to be fooled

FAQs

忍不住 (rěnbuzhù) means “cannot help” or “unable to bear”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it rěnbuzhù: rěn with a 3rd tone, then bu with a neutral tone, then zhù with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 忍不住 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type renbuzhu with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 忍不住 from the suggestions. Typing renbuzhu into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
忍不住 is an HSK 5 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

Turn words into conversations

A dictionary gives you the words. A native teacher shows you how to use them. Start with a free 30-minute intro call.

Book a free intro call

Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.