The irregular verb "helfen" in German

Meaning, conjugation, pronunciation and examples of the verb 'helfen' (to help)

Meaning of "helfen" in German

The verb "helfen" means:

1.-to help

Er hat mir geholfen zu übersetzen
He helped me translate

Mir hilft es, wenn du bei mir bist
It helps when you’re with me

Structure:

helfen + [Dative] (the person being helped) + bei + Dative (what one is helping with)

Ich helfe Ihnen gerne bei der Hausarbeit
I gladly help you with the housework

Grammar of "helfen"

helfen is an irregular verb.

Main article: Irregular verbs

Conjugation of "helfen"

Present simple (Präsens Indikativ)

Hilfst du mir bei den Hausaufgaben?
Will you help me with the homework?

Perfect (Perfekt)

Dein Tipp hat mir sehr geholfen
Your advice helped me a lot

Als sie den Unfall sahen, haben sie sofort geholfen
When they saw the accident, they immediately went to help

Simple past (Präteritum)

The simple past is hardly used in southern Germany and in spoken German. Often, the present perfect is used instead.

Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II)

Participle (Partizip)

Imperative (Imperativ)

Verbs with the stem "helfen"