For the life of me Meaning in English

expression

US

FOR-thuh-LYFE-uhv-MEE

UK

for-thuh-LYFE-ov-MEE

التعريف

Used to emphasize that you cannot do or remember something, no matter how hard you try.

الاستخدام والفروق الدقيقة

This informal idiom expresses strong frustration at inability to remember or do something. Often appears in statements with 'can't' or 'couldn't' (e.g. 'I can't for the life of me remember his name'). Rarely used in formal writing. It does not mean 'risking one's life.'

• Spanish: por más que lo intente - por nada del mundo
• Portuguese (BR): de jeito nenhum - por nada
• Portuguese (PT): por nada deste mundo - de maneira nenhuma
• Chinese (Simplified): 怎么也（想不起来/做不到）
• Chinese (Traditional): 怎麼也（想不起來／做不到）
• Hindi: मैं चाहकर भी (समझ/याद/कर) नहीं सकता
• Arabic: مهما حاولت - أبداً
• Bengali: কিছুতেই - কিছু করেই (মনে পড়ে না/পারছি না)
• Russian: как ни стараюсь - хоть убей
• Japanese: どうしても - いくら頑張っても
• Vietnamese: dù cố mấy cũng không thể - chẳng thể nào
• Korean: 아무리 해도 - 도저히
• Turkish: ne yaptıysam da - bir türlü
• Urdu: چاہ کر بھی - لاکھ کوشش کے باوجود
• Indonesian: sekeras apa pun - sama sekali tidak bisa

جمل نموذجية

I can't for the life of me find my keys.

basic

She couldn't for the life of her remember the answer.

basic

For the life of me, I don't know what happened.

basic

He stared at the form but, for the life of him, couldn't fill it out.

natural

For the life of me, I can't figure out this math problem.

natural

We checked everywhere and for the life of us couldn't find the cat.

natural