〜を禁じ得ない

Cannot Help but Feel

Level 5Sounds Like wokinjienai

〜を禁じ得ない（をきんじえない） is a formal, literary pattern meaning 'cannot help but feel' or 'cannot suppress.' It is used when an emotion like anger, joy, or surprise wells up naturally and is too powerful to hold back.

How It Works

〜を禁じ得ない is an advanced, formal expression primarily found in written Japanese, such as editorials, literature, and formal reports, or in very formal speeches.

1. Spontaneous Emotion:
It describes an internal reaction that occurs naturally in response to an event. The nuance is that the emotion is so strong that the speaker's will is insufficient to keep it inside.

2. Grammatical Structure:
It attaches to nouns that represent emotions or physical signs of emotion. Common nouns include:

  • 怒り（いかり）- Anger
  • 喜び（よろこび）- Joy
  • 驚き（おどろき）- Surprise
  • 悲しみ（かなしみ）- Sadness
  • 同情（どうじょう）- Sympathy
  • 涙（なみだ）- Tears
  • 疑問（ぎもん）- Doubt

3. Register and Usage:
This is not used in daily conversation. Using it with friends would sound overly dramatic or stiff. It is almost exclusively used for the speaker's own feelings (first-person). To describe someone else's feelings, you must add a conjectural ending like 〜ているようだ.

4. Positive and Negative:
While often used for negative emotions like anger or sadness, it is perfectly appropriate for positive emotions like 喜び (joy) or 感動 (being moved).

Examples (4)

  1. 社長の独断的な決定には、怒りを禁じ得ない。

    I cannot help but feel outraged at the president's arbitrary decision.

    Word by Word: President's arbitrary decision regarding, anger (object) suppress cannot.

    Here, the speaker expresses a strong, uncontrollable sense of anger toward a specific formal situation.

  2. 震災で家族を失った人々の話を聞き、涙を禁じ得なかった。

    Hearing the stories of those who lost their families in the earthquake, I could not hold back my tears.

    Word by Word: Earthquake-disaster by family (object) lost people's stories hearing, tears (object) suppress could-not.

    This uses the past tense 禁じ得なかった to describe a past emotional reaction. It shows the physical manifestation of emotion (tears).

  3. 無名だった彼が世界大会で優勝したというニュースに、驚きを禁じ得ない。

    I cannot help but be amazed by the news that he, who was unknown, won the world championship.

    Word by Word: Unknown was he (subject) world tournament at victory did that news at, surprise (object) suppress cannot.

    This demonstrates the pattern used with a neutral/positive emotion (surprise).

  4. 政府の無責任な対応に対し、国民は不信感を禁じ得ないだろう。

    The citizens likely cannot help but feel a sense of distrust toward the government's irresponsible response.

    Word by Word: Government's irresponsible response toward, citizens distrust-feeling (object) suppress cannot probably.

    When referring to a group or third party, the speaker often adds だろう (probably) to show it is an observation or conjecture.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the standard potential form 禁じられない instead of the idiomatic 禁じ得ない.

    彼の不幸に同情を禁じられない。
    彼の不幸に同情を禁じ得ない。

    While 禁じられない is grammatically possible, it literally means 'cannot be prohibited' (like a law). For uncontrollable emotions, the fixed idiom 禁じ得ない must be used.

  • Using the pattern in casual, everyday conversation.

    あの映画、面白すぎて笑いを禁じ得ないよ！
    あの映画、面白すぎて笑いが止まらないよ！

    〜を禁じ得ない is extremely formal. In casual settings, use simpler expressions like 止まらない (doesn't stop) or 〜ずにはいられない.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

〜を禁じ得ないLevel 5Cannot Help but Feel

Learn This First

〜を禁じ得ない is a formal expression used to describe an uncontrollable emotion. It literally means 'cannot get the suppression of [emotion]'. To understand it, you need to know the object marker 'を' and the potential negative form '得ない' (cannot), which is used here with the verb '禁じる' (to suppress).

Words in This Pattern

禁じ得ない禁じる得ない