correct?

Question

DearHe could not help but be infected by same biases.Can I say like this?He could not help being infected by same biases.if correct, could you explain the reason.Thank you in advance

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

Dear

Do you think this sentence is correct?

You are being late.

Thank you in advance

Avangi · Answer

He could not help but be infected by same biases.

Can I say like this?

He could not help being infected by same biases.

Yes, you may, but both versions need the article, "the same biases."

Forgive me, but I'm not up to explaining. I traversed two threads with Wholegrain trying to find a logical pattern to these uses of "but," only to find that in some cases "but" means "yes" and in other cases it means "no." If I come across a reference, I'll stick it in. It works differently in certain types of negative sentences.

- A.

Avangi · Answer

Anonymous Do you think this sentence is correct?

You are being late.

No, I don't. We think of lateness as happening only at one point in time for a given occurrence. That is, it's not a continuous state or condition, like being hungry.

If you have a three-o'clock appointment you may call ahead at two-thirty and say, "I'm going to be late," but you're not yet being late.

I suppose if you call again at three-fifteen and say, "I'm sorry I'm late. I'll be there in five minutes," technically you're being late, but we wouldn't put it that way. The person you spoke to would turn to someone else at the meeting, and say, "That was Bob. He's going to be late," meaning he's going to arrive late. (In another sense, he's already late.)

When you walk in, someone may say, "Hey, Bob, you're late!" But you don't continue being late. After you sit down, someone may say, "Hey, Bob, why were you so late?"

I guess it would be possible to describe habitual lateness that way. "Bob, your continually being late to work has got to stop. You are being late every morning!"

CalifJim · Answer

cannot help but --- and cannot help ---ing are basically the same idiom. You can state it either way.
I can't help but correct people's grammatical errors, even though it's rude.
I can't help correcting people's grammatical errors, even though it's rude.
Jake couldn't help but notice that Jenny had jam on her face.
Jake couldn't help noticing that Jenny had jam on her face.
CJ

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