there's (nothing / not much) (someone) can do

When someone is asking for help, but you can't help them (or don't want to help them), you use the phrase "there's nothing I can do".

Using this phrase makes it sound like you don't have any control over the decision to help or not help them. For example, if you are following a set of rules or if it's too late to make changes, you can say that "there's not much I can do about that".

This phrase appears in these lessons: