Can't help doing smth vs. Can't help but do smth.

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hi,
Is there a difference between these two structures?

He could not help staring at her

OR

He could not help but stare at her

?

Thanks

2

Yeah, I think.
The first one: They were staring at her but he couldn’t help them in this job.
The second one : He just helped them in staring at her and not anymore things.

Hope the natives and pros tells me if I am correct.

3

Neither of these has anything to do with actual helping anybody to do anything, as far as I know.
They both mean “he could not resist staring at her”
I’m just trying to see the difference between the two versions.

4

They are two ways to say the same thing. I don’t see any difference in meaning at all.

5

thank you!

6

Thank you both.

7

Hi!,

A slight difference in both sentences could be:

1st sentence he couldn’t stop staring at her.

2nd sentence, he couldn’t do anything else but stare at her.

I guess they meaning is the same.

8

Hi!
As Genius71 says,
there might be a slight difference between the two.
I think her explanation is very usuful to understand them!
Thank you for good comment!

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Rakko (ﾟｰﾟ)
d.hatena.ne.jp/amarillank/
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9

Thank you!

10

Sorry, but to this native speaker. ‘Help but’ does not mean, or even suggest, ‘do anything else but’ rather than ‘stop’.

11

Hi,

Well, that’s eactly what I mean.

‘Can’t help but stare at her’ means, he is compelled to stare. Not by anyone but, by her looks. Maybe she looks so beautiful, that he can’t stop staring at her, can’t help but stare at her.

At the end, both sentences mean the same thing.