How To Ask for Help in Spanish
Knowing how to ask for help in Spanish is a game-changer. Armed with this knowledge, you can travel to Spanish-speaking countries and ask for assistance when you need it.
Read this article to learn what to say when you need to ask for help in Spanish. I’ll explain some typical formal and informal expressions and throw in slang phrases to surprise your Spanish-speaking friends. You’ll also learn how to conjugate the Spanish verb for “to help”!
Déjame ayudarte hoy.
Let me help you today.
‘To Help’ in Spanish
How do you translate “to help” from English to Spanish? Ayudar is the Spanish verb that means “to help.”
Ayudar is a regular -ar verb. Let’s see its conjugation in three tenses: present simple, past simple, and future simple.
ayudar – present simple conjugation chart
Juan ayuda a su madre.
Juan helps his mother.
Nosotras ayudamos a las personas de escasos recursos.
We help the ones in need.
“To help” in Spanish past tense also follows a regular pattern:
ayudar – preterite conjugation chart
No me ayudaste.
You didn’t help me.
Me ayudaron mis amigos.
My friends helped me.
ayudar – future simple conjugation chart
¿Me ayudarás?
Will you help me?
Te ayudaremos.
We will help you.
Another important conjugation to learn to ask for help in Spanish is the imperative form. It’s necessary as you’ll need to be able to distinguish between singular informal (tú – you) and formal form (usted – you) and the plural form.
ayudar – imperative conjugation chart
Anyway, in all the expressions I’ll show you today to ask for help in Spanish, I will mention all three forms.
15 Phrases To Ask For Help in Spanish
Let’s learn 15 ways to ask for help in Spanish. Most of them use the verb ayudar. Some show you how to ask for help in Spanish with other verbs, and some are idiomatic expressions.
1. Ayúdame
The simplest way to ask for help in Spanish is to add the personal pronoun in its indirect object form me to the ayudar verb. It simply translates to: help me.
– Singular Informal:
Ayúdame, Ana.
Help me, Ana.
– Singular Formal:
Ayúdeme, Señor.
Help me, Lord.
– Plural Formal and Informal:
Ayúdenme, chicos.
Help me, guys.
2. ¿Me ayudas?
If you want to ask a direct question: can you help me? You need to put the indirect object in front of the verb.
– Singular Informal:
¿Me ayudas, mamá?
Can you help me, mom?
– Singular Formal:
¿Me ayuda, maestra?
Can you help me, teacher?
– Plural Formal and Informal:
¿Me ayudan, amigos?
Can you help me, guys?
3. ¿Me puedes ayudar?
It’s another form to use to ask for help in Spanish. This time with the verb poder (to be able to).
– Singular Informal:
¿Me puedes ayudar?
Can you help me?
– Singular Formal:
¿Me puede ayudar, señora?
Can you help me, ma’am?.
– Plural Formal and Informal:
¿Me pueden ayudar, amigos?
Can you help me, guys?
4. ¿Me podrías ayudar?
Using poder in its conditional form together with the verb ayudar lets you ask for help in Spanish in a more polite way. We can translate it to “could you help.”
– Singular Informal:
¿Me podrías ayudar?
Could you help me?
– Singular Formal:
¿Me podría ayudar, señora?
Could you help me, ma’am?.
– Plural Formal and Informal:
¿Me podrían ayudar, amigos?
Could you help me, guys.
5. ¿Te importaría ayudarme?
This is another polite way to ask for help in Spanish. It’s like saying in English: would you mind helping me.
– Singular Informal:
¿Te importaría ayudarme, hermana?
Would you mind helping me, sister?
– Singular Formal:
¿Le importaría ayudarme, vecina?
Would you mind helping me, neighbor?
– Plural Formal and Informal:
¿Les importaría ayudarnos, señores?
Would you gentlemen mind helping us?
6. Necesito ayuda
This expression translates into “I need help.”
Necesito ayuda en matemáticas.
I need help in math.
Necesito ayuda para mover esto.
I need help moving this.
7. ¡Ayuda!
This is a great expression to ask for help when you have no time for formalities. It’s just to shout “help!”.
¡Ayuda! ¡Me están atacando!
Help! I’m being attacked!
8. ¡Auxilio!
Like the previous expression, this means “help!”.
¡Auxilio! ¡Hay un ladrón aquí!
Help! There’s a thief here!
9. ¡Socorro!
And one more, to ask for help in Spanish in a quick way.
¡Socorro! ¡Hay un hombre en el agua!
Help! There’s a man in the water!
10. Echar una mano
This is an idiomatic expression that means ayudar, “to lend a hand.”
¿Me puedes echar una mano con la tarea?
Can you give me a hand with my homework?
¿Me pueden echar una mano con la declaración de impuestos?
Can you give me a hand with my tax return?
11. Echar un cable
This idiomatic expression probably refers to a “cable” that sailors throw from the boat to help a drowning person.
¿Me echas un cable con mi hija? No me habla.
Can you help me with my daughter? She won’t talk to me.
12. Echar un capote
This idiomatic expression also means to help someone in a difficult situation. Un capote (a cape) is what is thrown to distract the bull in a bullfight.
Gracias por echarme un capote antes.
Thank you for helping me out of a fix earlier.
13. ¿Me puede explicar?
If you need to ask for help in Spanish to understand something, like a new word, or expression, you can ask:
¿Me puedes explicar?
Can you explain it to me?
Or in a formal way:
¿Me puede explicar el significado?
Can you explain the meaning?
14. ¿Me lo puedes aclarar?
You can also ask for help in Spanish if you need somebody to clarify something for you.
¿Me lo puedes aclarar?
Can you clarify this?
15. ¿Cómo se…?
To ask for help in Spanish, you can also ask for instruction, how to do something.
¿Cómo se escribe?
How do you write it?
¿Cómo se dice?
How do you say it?
¿Cómo se come esto?
How do you eat this?
¿Cómo se llega al centro?
How do you get downtown?
Practice Asking for Help in Spanish
The next step is to start using these expressions in a real conversation. It’s the ultimate goal, isn’t it? To be able to use your knowledge in a practical way and become bilingual!
You’re learning Spanish, not just for the sake of knowing it or adding another language to your curriculum. Learning Spanish makes more sense if you can think of a specific benefit. Do you want to travel easily? Do you want to speak to your Spanish-speaking friends or neighbors? Yes, learning Spanish means more friends; in the U.S. alone, there are 41 million native Spanish speakers.
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