Verbal Ability - Spotting Errors - Discussion

Discussion Forum : Spotting Errors - Section 1 (Q.No. 26)
Directions to Solve

Read each sentence to find out whether there is any grammatical error in it. The error, if any will be in one part of the sentence. The letter of that part is the answer. If there is no error, the answer is 'D'. (Ignore the errors of punctuation, if any).


26.

(solve as per the direction given above)

He couldn't but help
shedding tears at the plight of the villagers
rendered homeless by a devastating cyclone.
No error.
Answer: Option
Explanation:
He couldn't help
Discussion:
25 comments Page 1 of 3.

Farhan said:   3 years ago
Thanks a lot @Emzy.

Ani said:   3 years ago
It looks the meaning is that he could not remain without shedding tears.

So "He couldn't but helped shedding tears".

A similar example in the present tense: The earth can't but revolves around the sun.
(1)

Emzy said:   3 years ago
Meaning of the sentence:

A cyclone had hit the villagers which resulted in them (The Villagers) getting homeless. The subject in the given sentence might be a visitor at the place. So when he saw the pathetic situation of the villagers, he could not control his tears and started Shedding them.

That is why, "He couldn't help shedding tears at the plight of the villagers, rendered homeless by a devastating cyclone".
(1)

Asif said:   6 years ago
In my opinion, it should be "He couldn't but help".

Krisha b said:   6 years ago
Shouldn't it be- He couldn't help but shed tears at the plight?
(2)

Harshita said:   6 years ago
It should be ' he couldn't help but shed tears'.
(2)

Pranajit said:   7 years ago
The correct way of using "couldn't help/couldn't but". It means one can't-do without. Please remember "but" here is not a conjunction rather a preposition meaning"except/save". As "help" takes gerund after it so the sentence becomes "couldn't help shedding tears. ". Used with but ("but" is followed by a bare infinitive) the sentence becomes " couldn't but shed".

**** "but" & "help" can't be used together.

@Abhishek.

It means that there was nothing else for him except crying.

Aadhii said:   7 years ago
Option A is correct. He couldn't help. It gives the answer to "what he couldn't". After that (but) the reason or what he could.

Abhishek Srivastava said:   7 years ago
Could anyone tell the meaning for me?

Pushpita Deb Roy said:   8 years ago
'He couldn't help but' is the correct answer no doubt but shouldn't it be 'shed' instead of 'shedding'?


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