We rather not face many rough situations, but have you ever thought about how beneficial might be to know how to ask for help in Spanish?
As in any language to ask for help is a life skill.
Just imagine yourself gotten lost or searching for a restaurant or drugstore and ignoring how to do it…
1. Well, how do you say “help” in English?
The translation for the word “help” is “ayudar” and now We´ll show how to conjugate this verb to ask for help in Spanish.
Pronoun | Simple Present |
Yo | ayudo |
Tú | ayudas |
Usted | ayuda |
Él, ella | ayuda |
Nosotros | ayudamos |
Ustedes | ayudan |
Ellos, ellas | ayudan |
Another common conjugation form to ask for help in Spanish is the one that we know as imperative or command form.
There are not so many imperative conjugations because you can’t command yourself or people who aren’t present (they) to help you.
So, you mostly do it directly to a second person face to fase.
Pronoun | Imperative |
Tú | ayuda |
Usted | ayude |
Nosotros | ayudemos |
Ustedes | ayuden |
How to be more specific..
2. Define Who you are Asking for Help…
When you ask for help in Spanish, you will often need to use the pronoun “me”, which is the same form in English.
With the present tense, the pronoun comes before the verb (me ayudas), but with the imperative form.
You can also attach the pronoun to the end of the verb as you can see in the following examples.
Pronoun | Imperative with Pronoun |
Tú | ayúdame |
Usted | ayúdeme |
Ustedes | ayúdenme |
But in this case, you don´t say “Tú ayúdame” or “usted ayúdeme”.
In this situation to ask for help in Spanish you only say: “ayúdame” or “ayúdeme”.
3. Can you help me, please?
This form is a little more polite, and you can also use it in a wider variety of situations.
¿Me puedes ayudar, por favor? – Can you help me, please?
Possible answers you can get:
Sí, claro. – Yes, of course.
¿Qué necesitas? – What do you need?
Por supuesto. – Of course.
¿“Me ayudas?”.
If you are moving and you require some help from a friend, you can use this phrase.
This is an informal way to ask for help in Spanish. But be carfeul, cause it might sound a little sarcastic in other situations.
¿Me ayudas? – Can you help me?
Sí, ¿con qué? – Yeah, what is it?
Con este sillón. – With this sofa.
Sí, dámela. – Yeah, I´ll take it.
4. I need help. Can somebody help me, please?!
This phrase is more serious, although you don’t always use it to refer to emergencies.
For example, if you are in Spanish class and need help with the homework, you can say;” ¿Necesito ayuda, alguien me puede ayudar?”.
Necesito ayuda con este ejercicio. – I need help with this task.
Sí, claro. ¿Cuál pregunta no entiendes? – Yeah, of course. Which question don’t you understand?
Necesito ayuda, por favor. – I need help, please.
5. Would you mind helping me? ¿Te importaría ayudarme?
Here we have another formal way to ask for help in Spanish.
You can use this with new people or in a business setting.
Disculpa, ¿Te importaría ayudarme? – Excuse me. Would you mind helping me?
Sí, claro. – Yes, of course.
Hola, buenas tardes. ¿Tienes un momento para ayudarme? – Hi, good afternoon. Do you have a moment to help me?
Sí, supongo que sí. – Yes, I suppose so.
¿Tienes un momento para ayudarme? – Do you have a moment to help me?
No, lo siento. Estoy ocupado. – No, sorry. I’m busy.
In this case, we politely ask someone for help, but if they have the chance to help us, that´s why this expression is extremely polite.
6. “¡Échame una mano!”… give me one hand?
This one is an idiom, so it should not be taken so literally it´s a command rather than a question.
It is informal and you use it with people you know or friends.
Échame la mano con esto. – Give me a hand with this.
Bueno. – Okay
Ven, por favor. Échame la mano. – Come here, please. Give me a hand.
Ya voy. – Coming.
7. Help! Help, please!
While the verb ayudar is to help, in real emergencies we will apply the expression:
¡Auxilio! ¡Se está ahogando! – Help! She’s drowning!
¡Auxilio! ¡Me están robando! – Help! I’m being robbed!
I´m lost is one of the most common situations…
This phrase is crucial to memorize, especially if you will be traveling abroad. Remember to change the -o to -a if you are a woman.
Estoy perdida. ¿Me puedes ayudar? – I’m lost. Can you help me?
Sí. ¿Adónde quieres ir? – Yes. Where do you want to go?
Estoy perdido. ¿Me puedes ayudar? – I’m lost. Can you help me?
Lo siento. No soy de aquí. – Sorry, I’m not from here.
Wanna learn more?
Well, visit us at Perfect Sunset School, Playa Hermosa Santa Teresa, Costa Rica.
Here we have everything you need to learn Spanish, become fluent, and much more.