Essential Chunks and Phrases to Ask for HELP in Spanish in ANY Situation

Welcome to Spring Spanish! In this article, te voy a enseñar cómo pedir ayuda en español (I am going to teach you how to ask for help in Spanish). Entonces, ¿me ayudas? (So, can you help me?) You will learn some of the most useful chunks que te ayudarán (that will help you) to ask for help in any situation!

1. Useful phrases to ask for help in Spanish

¡Ayúdame a ayudarte!

This literally means “HELP ME TO HELP YOU”

Disculpe, ¿podría ayudarme? or Disculpa, ¿podrías ayudarme? (Excuse me, could you help me?)

We use Disculpe in formal situations, when we use usted, while in informal situations, we use  Disculpa, when we use tú.

If you are in doubt about when to use Usted or Tú, then check out the video that Paulisima, another Spring Spanish teacher, made to teach you the difference.

Necesito ayuda, por favor. (I need help, please.)

This phrase is usually accompanied by a preposition, like para (to).

Necesito ayuda para … (I need help to…)

• … encontrar (to find something), e.g. un hotel (a hotel), el aeropuerto (the airport), un taxi (a taxi), una tienda (a store), un parque (a park), la estación de tren (the train station), la estación de policía (the police station).
• … marcar un número telefónico internacional (to dial an international phone number)
• … enamorar a un chico (to make a boy fall for me). —And once you are in love, then check Cory’s video about the Language of love and seduce him or her in Spanish 🤭

¿Puede(s) o podría(s)? (Can you? or Could you?)

This question will be used with complementary verbs such as:

• ¿Puedes pasarme la pluma? (Can you give me the pen?) 
• ¿Podrías despertarme mañana? (Could you wake me up tomorrow?)
• ¿Puede ayudarme con mi tarea? (Can you help me with my homework?)
• ¿Podría manejar más lento? (Could you drive more slowly?) — Please use this one when you are on a taxi in Mexico City. It would be really useful!

¿Me ayudas? (Could you help me?) or ¡Ayúdame, por favor! (Help me, please!)

• ¿Me ayudas a hacer el desayuno? (Can you help me to make breakfast?)
• Ayúdame a cargar esto, por favor. (Help me to carry this, please.)

¿Te importaría? (Would you mind?)

• ¿Te importaría traerme una botella con agua? (Would you mind bringing me a water bottle?)
• ¿Te importaría llamar a tu mamá? (Would you mind calling your mother?)
• ¿Te importaría llevarme al aeropuerto? (Would you mind driving me to the airport?)

¿Me echas una mano? (Can you give me a hand?)

• ¿Me echas una mano con las bolsas? (Can you give me a hand with the bags?)

¿Puedo pedirte un favor? (Can I ask you for a favor?) or ¿Me podrías hacer un favor? (Could you do me a favor?)

By the way, in Mexico we love sarcasm, so Mexican moms will use a typical phrase that sounds similar to this one, but without the question marks:

• ¿Me podrías hacer EL favor de recoger tu cuarto? (Could you do me THE favor of picking up your bedroom?) 

So, in this case, she is not asking, she is demanding you to do it.

2. Bonus phrases to ask for help in Spanish in emergency situations

Well guys, now you have lots of chunks to use on your next trip or to impress your Spanish speaker friends. However, I have some bonus phrases if you ever find yourself in an undesirable situation (I hope you don’t), but just in case then please bear in mind the following phrases:

• You are getting robbed or need someone to help: ¡Auxilio! Socorro! Ayúdenme!
• You need to call the ER: ¿Podrías llamar al 911, por favor?
• You need an ambulance: ¿Puedes pedir una ambulancia?
• You need a pharmacy: Necesito ayuda para encontrar una farmacia.
• You need to go to the police station: ¿Te importaría llevarme a la estación de policía?

And if you ever need help to ask where to find something, you could use any of these:

• ¿Dónde está _______? (when asking for specific places) or ¿Dónde hay _______? (when asking for any place)
• ¿Dónde está el hotel “Las Maravillas” / la embajada Americana (the US Embassy) / la estación de policía (the police station)?   
• ¿Dónde hay un hotel (a hotel) / una farmacia (a drug store) / un hospital (a hospital)? 

3. Learn Spanish with FREE Spanish Training

Ahora que ya sabes cómo pedir ayuda (now that you know how to ask for help), ¿por qué no te ayudas a aprender español? (Why don’t you help yourself in learning Spanish?) We have a whole series of Spanish beginner videos, so feel free to check them out on our channel! 

And if you want to learn more chunks and to understand how our chunk method works to improve your Spanish in less time, then sign up to the free training we are offering on our website. By doing so, you will have access to free sample Spanish lessons straight from our Academy!