Correct the following sentence which has an omitted word.
The mother could not help but at his behaviour.
A. The mother could not help but crying at his behaviour.
B. The mother could not help but cry at his behaviour.
C. The mother could not help but to cry at his behaviour.
D. The mother could not help but cried at his behaviour.
E. The mother could not help was crying at his behaviour.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → B only
Cannot help but + base verb:
- "cannot help but" means one cannot stop oneself from doing something.
- It is followed by the base form of the verb, without "to": could not help but cry.
- The other pattern, "cannot help + -ing", has no "but": could not help crying.
A. The mother could not help but crying at his behaviour. — Incorrect.
- It mixes the two patterns.
- After "but" the base form is needed.
B. The mother could not help but cry at his behaviour. — Correct.
- "help but" + base form "cry".
C. The mother could not help but to cry at his behaviour. — Incorrect.
- "to" is not used after "help but".
D. The mother could not help but cried at his behaviour. — Incorrect.
- The past form "cried" cannot follow "help but".
E. The mother could not help was crying at his behaviour. — Incorrect.
- "help was crying" joins two verbs without any link.
- It is ungrammatical.