没办法【méi bànfǎ】

没办法 + verb says there is no way to do something: the means or the chance just isn't there. 办法 is "a way, a method", and 没 negates it as it negates any 有.

没有办法 is the same thing, a little fuller. The positive is 有办法, "can find a way".

On its own: "it can't be helped"

As a sentence by itself, or at the head of one, 没办法 accepts a situation you can't change.

没办法 or 不能

不能 can mean "not allowed" or "shouldn't". 没办法 is only about circumstances: there's simply no way. 我不能去 can be a refusal; 我没办法去 says your hands are tied.

没, never 不

办法 is a noun after 有, so the negative is 没.

• × 我不办法去 → 我没办法去
• × 我不有办法 → 我没有办法

To look for a way, use 想办法, "think of something".