låta bli

Swedish

Etymology

låta (“let”) ‎ bli (“be”)

Verb

låta bli (present låter bli, preterite lät bli, supine låtit bli, imperative låt bli)

avoid, restrain oneself from, keep from (usually with respect to touching, meddling with, or generally doing)
Låt bli saxen! Den är ingen leksak.
Leave the scissors alone! They are not a toy.

Jag kan inte låta bli
I can't help myself (I can't make myself not do a certain thing)

Låt bli att sjunga klockan fyra på morgonen
Don't sing ("refrain from singing") at four in the morning
- 1986, Lasse Holm (lyrics and music), “Cannelloni, macaroni”‎^[1]:
  Campagnola, fiuggirola, quattro stagioni, marinara, capricciosa, kan inte låta bli. Jag blir fascinerad. Känner hunger, känner törst. Det gör mig passionerad. Det gör mig fylld av lust. Pescatore, vesuvio, la bussola, pompei. Vad ni frestar mig.
  Campagnola, fiuggirola, quattro stagioni, marinara, capricciosa, can't help myself [from eating them or naming them or the like, like in English]. I am [become] fascinated. Feeling hunger, feeling thirst. It makes me passionate. It makes me filled [sic] with desire. Pescatore, vesuvio, la bussola, pompei. How you tempt me.

Usage notes

Always refers to an action which should be avoided, though the action may be implicitly understood. For example in the example above, the action referred to is röra (“touch”). If one wants to specify the action to be avoided, it is to follow in the full infinitive, as in Låt bli att röra saxen!.

References