“Help” is a really important word to know in English. It is a word that comes in handy in the classroom (“Ms. Brown, I need help with my homework.”), on the street (“Can you help me find the bank?”), in business (“The company helping with a new initiative.”) and in an emergency (“Help! That man just stole my purse.”)

This word can be used as a verb, noun, or exclamation. The different definitions for these usages are below.

help:
verb – to make something easier by offering aid
Example: I think humor helps lighten a tense situation.

noun – assistance
Example: We thanked them for their help.

exclamation – an urgent assistance is needed
Example: Help! Somebody call the police!

This word is so important in fact, a whole song has been written about it! The song ‘Help!’ by the Beatles was a number 1 hit when it was released in the United States and United Kingdom in 1965 and is still a popular song today. It is the perfect song take a look at as we focus on the word ‘help’ today.

You can listen to and see the lyrics to this song in the YouTube video below. You’ll see in this video the many ways the word ‘help’ can be used. Another great thing about this song is that the lyrics are simple and straight forward, but if when listening to it you have questions about meaning of words in the song please ask them in the comments area below.

Lastly, I wanted to give you a few phrases to use to politely ask for help. These phrases can be used to ask a teacher, classmate, friend, or stranger for help.

Phrases:
Excuse me, could you help…. (me figure out this math problem?)
Would you mind helping … (me take my groceries out to my car?)
Could you help … (us find the closest post office?)
If it isn’t too much trouble could you help … (proofread my letter to the corporate office?)

What is important to take away from these phrases is that when you are asking for help, you shouldn’t just say “help me” (unless it is an emergency and you are using the word help as an exclamation). You are more likely to get assistance if you ask for help using polite words like ‘please,’ ‘could,’ and ‘would’.