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December 3, 2021 by Olga Put Spanish Grammar 0 comments

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

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

help in Spanish

No me ayudaste.
You didn’t help me.

Me ayudaron mis amigos.
My friends helped me.

ayudar – future simple conjugation chart

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

Imperative mood

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.

help in Spanish

– 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?

help in Spanish

– 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?

help in Spanish

– 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?

help in Spanish

– 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.

Spanish example

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!

Spanish example

8. ¡Auxilio!

Like the previous expression, this means “help!”.

¡Auxilio! ¡Hay un ladrón aquí!
Help! There’s a thief here!

help in Spanish

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!

help in Spanish

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.

help in Spanish

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.

help in Spanish

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?

Spanish example

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?

Spanish example

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?

Spanish example

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. 

Start today! Sign up now for a free trial class at Homeschool Spanish Academy. Let our friendly and professional teachers from Guatemala help you reach your fluency goals and practice asking for help in Spanish in a 1-to-1 conversation! Check out our affordable pricing and flexible programs!

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Olga Put
Olga Put
Freelance Writer at Homeschool Spanish Academy
I'm a Spanish philologist, teacher, and freelance writer with a Master's degree in Humanities from Madrid. I speak Polish, Spanish, and English fluently, and want to get better in Portuguese and German. A lover of literature, and Mexican spicy cuisine, I've lived in Poland, Spain, and Mexico and I'm currently living and teaching in Madeira, Portugal.
Olga Put
Latest posts by Olga Put (see all)
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