# can't bear the thought



## viajero_canjeado

平常這個片語翻成中文為『捨不得』嗎? 比如 I can't bear the thought of living without you/He couldn't bear the thought of leaving his homeland. 好像捨不得不是很貼切。希望你們能幫我翻得更好!

我沒有你就不想再活下去了。連想到沒有你也會讓我非常難過。
他很不願意離開自己的家鄉。連想到離開家鄉，令他很心神不寧。

謝謝。


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## tdwmy

这样如何：我不能想象没有你的生活/他无法想象要离开家乡


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## Ghabi

viajero_canjeado said:


> 我沒有你就不想再活下去了。連想到沒有你也會讓我非常難過。
> 他很不願意離開自己的家鄉。連想到離開家鄉，令他很心神不寧。


Hi! I think the conjunction 連 can't really be used in the way above. There should be something before it, as in 誰也不知道他往哪兒去了,連老師也不知道 "no one knows where he's gone, not even the teacher". If you want say things like "the very thought of living without you saddens me", you may say 單是想到以後不能跟你在一起,我已經難過不已.


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## OneStroke

What about using 不堪設想?


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## Ghabi

You mean something like 沒有你的日子簡直不堪設想? Perhaps a tad too histrionic, at least to my ears. What Tdwmy suggests above sounds more natural to me.


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## hsudamao

viajero_canjeado said:


> 平常這個片語翻成中文為『捨不得』嗎? 比如 I can't bear the thought of living without you/He couldn't bear the thought of leaving his homeland. 好像捨不得不是很貼切。希望你們能幫我翻得更好!
> 
> 謝謝。



can't bear the thought of sth 以「無法忍受....的念頭」似較貼切，

"I can't bear the thought of living without you."
我無法忍受沒有你(獨自生活)的念頭。

He couldn't bear the thought of leaving his homeland."
他無法忍受離開祖國的(這個)念頭。


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## Ghabi

Perhaps there's a regional difference here: 無法忍受......的念頭 doesn't make much sense to me. Hope that our Taiwanese colleagues would chime in.


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## OneStroke

I agree with Ghabi that it sounds a little strange, so it's probably a regional difference (since I'm also from Hong Kong).


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## xiaolijie

"無法忍受......的念頭" sounds perfectly fine to me (Maybe because I'm not from Taiwan?)


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## OneStroke

I think 我無法忍受 is 'I can't stand sth', which is a bit different from 'I can't bear to (do sth)'.


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## xiaolijie

> 'I can't bear to (do sth)'


Do you mean "无法承受"? Is this phrase more common in Hong Kong? 
(I think in many contexts,  无法承受 and 无法忍受 are interchangeable.)


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## OneStroke

I've never heard 承受 used like this before, but I think it's possible. 忍受 just sounds plain weird to me, I don't know.


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## xiaolijie

> 忍受 just sounds plain weird to me


I see. What about 享受? Does it sound ok to you? It's the opposite of 忍受.

(There's also this phrase: 无法接受. You are perhaps more familiar with this?)


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## Ghabi

It sounds weird to me because 念頭 is about a plan/idea to do something, more like 主意/想法. For example, you can reproach something by saying 你動了這種歪念頭,實在要不得! It's not like "thought" as in "can't bear the thought", which is more like "prospect".


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## xiaolijie

> It's not like "thought" as in "can't bear the thought", which is more like "prospect".


念頭 actually seems to include this sense of "thought". Just a brief search of the net has given me these:

Xiaozhu has always been his angel, he couldn't bear for a moment the thought of losing her.
小竹一直是他的天使，他无法忍受任何失去小竹的念头

She could not bear the thought of leaving her family.
她无法忍受离开家的念头

Cause I couldn’t stand the thought of you knowing the truth.
因为我无法忍受你知道真相的念头。

The idea suddenly flashed across my mind that he was in trouble.  	  						
我脑海里突然闪过一个念头，他可能遇到麻烦了。


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