Pesquise entre vários professores de Inglês...
antman
Is my understanding of the word help (used as a verb) correct? As far as I know, "to help somebody (to) do something" means that this somebody will still be pulling some of his/her weight. Therefore, saying "please help check the grammar" would be incorrect because this means the speaker will still be doing the checking only he/she needs someone on the side as a helper when in fact he/she is incapable of doing the checking and will have to leave the whole checking thing to someone else. So, in my opinion, instead of saying "please help check the grammar", say "please check the grammar for me". Similarly, say "please get a ticket for me" instead of "please help get a ticket". Am I right about this or am I analyzing this too much?
10 de jul de 2014 10:22
Respostas · 6
Yes, I think you are! Don't worry about it.
10 de julho de 2014
Thank you guys so much! Judging from what I've read here, it seems that my understanding is basically right; it's just that sometimes it can mean other than it's literal meaning. I really appreciate all your help here; I really do!
14 de julho de 2014
It's an expression Antman that means other than it's literal meaning. "Hey, could you help me get that or would you help me correct this?" actually means, would you get that for me and would you do that for me. Another thing you might hear is, "Can I borrow that salt shaker?" It doesn't mean the person wants to take home your salt shaker, it actually means, "Pass me the salt shaker." Idioms and the ways that people actually use language are important to know even if you wouldn't choose to use the words that way yourself. Hope that helps.
11 de julho de 2014
Not necessarily. If I can't reach something on a high shelf and I ask someone taller to help me, I could be asking that person to reach the item for me and I wouldn't expend any effort at all. I suppose the helper could fetch me a stool or lift me up so I could reach the item myself, but my involvement isn't mandatory.
10 de julho de 2014
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