como se dice " i can't help but.."

Question

como se dice "i can't help but overhearing your conversation"

no puedo resistarme en oyendo tu conversacion? is this ok'

Answer 1

jose perez said:

como se dice me tengo que ir temprano

"I have to leave early."

But next time, please start a new thread for your question.

Answer 2

yeah, i think this is the best answer, but i change it a little bit, thanks everyone, here it is

no pude evitar de oirme su conversacion
(I couldn't help overhearing your conversacion)

Quentin said:

The sentence sounds a little awkward in English. I would say or >

No puedo evitar.....eludir..oír tu conversación

if you want to use resistar I would also use escuchar

>

Answer 3

guys, it's just an idiomatic way of saying it(we don't follow rules)...yes I agree, you may have to change it a bit for formal writing, anyway, I look it up,

check out what professor of Michigan University has to say about it

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jlawler/aue/canthelp.html

btw, Quentin, conversation itself is plural, adding "s" is optional.

Wow this is fun haha lol

James Santiago said:

Quentin is right that the English is wrong. You are conflating two different forms, both of which are correct and mean the same thing.

I can't help thinking that I'm not going to survive.

I can't help but think that I'm not going to survive.

This one is incorrect.

I can't help but thinking that I'm not going to survive.

As for how to say this in Spanish, here are a couple of other ways.

No podía más que oír su conversación.

No tenía más remedio que oír su conversación.

You'll note that I used the plural "su" here, because I think that a conversation must involve two or more people, so it makes no sense to refer to a conversation of one. However, I'm not sure about that, so I hope a native speaker will confirm or refute it.

>

Answer 4

The same question had occured to me about the number of your in that context. In English, however, we say with so and so when addressing only one party of the dialog or if addressing both parties we use .

James Santiago said:

Quentin is right that the English is wrong. You are conflating two different forms, both of which are correct and mean the same thing.I can't help thinking that I'm not going to survive.I can't help but think that I'm not going to survive.This one is incorrect.I can't help but thinking that I'm not going to survive.As for how to say this in Spanish, here are a couple of other ways.No podía más que oír su conversación.No tenía más remedio que oír su conversación.You'll note that I used the plural "su" here, because I think that a conversation must involve two or more people, so it makes no sense to refer to a conversation of one. However, I'm not sure about that, so I hope a native speaker will confirm or refute it.

>

Answer 5

Quentin is right that the English is wrong. You are conflating two different forms, both of which are correct and mean the same thing.

I can't help thinking that I'm not going to survive.
I can't help but think that I'm not going to survive.

This one is incorrect.
I can't help but thinking that I'm not going to survive.

As for how to say this in Spanish, here are a couple of other ways.

No podía más que oír su conversación.
No tenía más remedio que oír su conversación.

You'll note that I used the plural "su" here, because I think that a conversation must involve two or more people, so it makes no sense to refer to a conversation of one. However, I'm not sure about that, so I hope a native speaker will confirm or refute it.

Answer 6

Quentin said:

if you want to use resistar I would also use escuchar
if you want to use resistar, resist the temptation and use resistir instead. jeje

Answer 7

The sentence sounds a little awkward in English. I would say or >

No puedo evitar.....eludir..oír tu conversación

if you want to use resistar I would also use escuchar