不能自己

bùnéngzìjǐ

phrase #36,442

Meanings

1 unable to control oneself (common misspelling of 不能自已)
2 cannot help oneself

Characters

oneself (note: should be 已 yǐ 'to stop')

Examples

听到这首歌，她激动得不能自己。

Tīng dào zhè shǒu gē, tā jīdòng de bùnéngzìjǐ.

Hearing this song, she got so emotional she couldn't help herself.

看到孩子平安归来，他喜极而泣，不能自己。

Kàn dào háizi píng'ān guīlái, tā xǐ jí ér qì, bùnéngzìjǐ.

Seeing the child return safely, he wept with joy and could not contain himself.

Tips

mistakes

This is a frequent misspelling of the correct chengyu 不能自已 (bùnéngzìyǐ — 'unable to stop oneself'). The correct character is 已 (yǐ — 'to stop, already'), not 己 (jǐ — 'oneself'). Even native speakers confuse the two because the characters look almost identical and 自 + 己 ('self') seems to make sense. In careful writing, always use 不能自已.

history

The correct form 不能自已 originates from Tang poet 卢照邻 Lú Zhàolín's 《寄裴舍人书》: '泣下交颐，不能自已' ('tears streaming down both cheeks, unable to stop').

Stroke Order

不 bù

能 néng

自 zì

己 jǐ