Philip  +  823084 Fri, 17 Jul 09 01:13 AM My Comcast homepage this afternoon had an article about "20 chic-flicks your guy can't help but to enjoy".  The "to" sounded strange to me, but upon thinking about it I felt it might be just fine.  Any ideas?  Philip Joined on Thu, Jun 23 2005 Veteran Member 8,733 At reise er at leve! - H. C. Andersen Articles

	Mr Wordy  +  823086 Fri, 17 Jul 09 01:17 AM "to" sounds wrong to me (and shouldn't it be "chick-flicks"?) Mr Wordy Joined on Tue, May 27 2008 Senior Member 2,359 Native British English speaker

	RayH  +  823087 Fri, 17 Jul 09 01:18 AM It sounds odd to me too. I would leave it out, thus "can't help but enjoy." RayH Joined on Sat, Mar 22 2008 Contributing Member 1,555 Native speaker of U. S. English. Not a grammar expert.

	Clive  +  823088 Fri, 17 Jul 09 01:20 AM Hi Philip, I wouldn't say it's wrong, but it seems unnecessary to me.   When I google 'Can't help but to', I apparently get 62,000 hits. But of course you find all manner of strange stuff there, don't you?   I thought a 'chic-flick' was a French film for intellectuals.   Clive Clive Joined on Thu, Oct 28 2004 Canada Veteran Member 29,594 El tango argentino es un pensamiento triste que se puede bailar (The tango argentino is a sad thought which can be danced) Enrique Santos Discépolo Languages

	Philip  +  823103 Fri, 17 Jul 09 01:27 AM Sorry, everyone!  I can't claim that "chic" was a typo on my part:  I just don't know how to spell "chick".   Philip Apologies

	CalifJim  +  823188 Fri, 17 Jul 09 03:00 AM I'd say "wrong".  The "help but" pattern takes a bare infinitive. Expressing myself strongly on this subject is something I can't help but to do. Google probably counted all manner of combinations where the constituent structure was different as in: I know she was just trying to help, but to speak so rudely was really not necessary. Tres chic, n'est-ce pas? Google doesn't respect punctuation or any other barriers between sentential constituents. CJ CalifJim Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004 California Veteran Member 22,389 "There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche Punctuation, Writing

	Philip  +  823204 Fri, 17 Jul 09 03:07 AM Oui, mon ami, très chick. Hope you had a great Bastille Day;  I did. Philip