"Can you help to edit this article?"

Question

Where I live, "Can you help to edit this article?" is commonly used. The sentence means that I am requested to edit the article without anybody helping me. Do native speakers use such a sentence with the same meaning?

Thanks.

Fivejedjon · Accepted Answer

No. There is no idea in those words that the person addressed is require to do the work without assistance. The request is simply for the person to assist another person/other people.

Tamguatlay · Answer

Thanks, fivejedjon

I think it should be "Can you ~~help to~~ edit this article?" if I have to do the work myself. Am I correct? Thanks.

Tamguatlay · Answer

I think it should be "Can you ~~help to~~ edit this article?" if I have to do the work myself. Am I correct?

Edit: "Can you edit this article for me?" Could somebody please clear my doubt? Thanks.

Grammarfreak · Answer

If you have written something which you need someone to prooferead for you, are requesting / asking for help. In your earlier post,
"Can you help to edit this article?" is commonly used. The sentence means that I am requested to edit the article without anybody helping me. Do native speakers use such a sentence with the same meaning?

I am confused by your sentence. The orange underlined is a passive construction that meant someone else is asking you for help. Is this the context? Sorry, I need to aks because it was not clear what you intended to say. If you say: "Can you help me - you are the requester. I am requested - someone has asked you for help. By the way, don't say " I am requested".Say " I have been asked .to ......"

GPY · Answer

tamguatlayI think it should be "Can you help to edit this article?" if I have to do the work myself. Am I correct?Edit: "Can you edit this article for me?" Could somebody please clear my doubt? Thanks.

If someone asks you "Can you help to edit this article?", then it kind of suggests that you will be doing some of the work, and the person asking and/or other people delegated will also be doing some of the work. In some cases, though, you might be disappointed and discover that "help" was used a bit euphemistically, and you end up doing all of it!

If someone asks you "Can you edit this article for me?" then, with no further context, it would normally be understood that you will do all of the work yourself. However, the request does not actually forbid you from enlisting someone else's help. And if you have people working for you (e.g. you are the head of a department) then it might even be expected that you will delegate the work.

Tamguatlay · Answer

grammarfreakIf you have written something which you need someone to prooferead for you, are requesting / asking for help. In your earlier post, "Can you help to edit this article?" is commonly used. The sentence means that I am requested to edit the article without anybody helping me. Do native speakers use such a sentence with the same meaning?I am confused by your sentence. The orange underlined is a passive construction that meant someone else is asking you for help. Is this the context? Sorry, I need to aks because it was not clear what you intended to say. If you say: "Can you help me - you are the requester. I am requested - someone has asked you for help. By the way, don't say " I am requested".Say " I have been asked .to ......"

Hi Grammarfreak

I don't understand your interpretation of my question. While the GPY and fivejedjon have no problem responding to my post, you have questioned the meaning of my post.

Grammarfreak · Answer

Where I live, "Can you help to edit this article?" is commonly used. The sentence means that I am requested to edit the article without anybody helping me. Do native speakers use such a sentence with the same meaning?

Thanks.

tamguatlay While the GPY and fivejedjon have no problem responding to my post, you have questioned the meaning of my post.

Frankly, your OP sentece wasn't easy to understand. You talked about a sentence commonly used where you live. But then you jumped to " The sentence means that I am requested to edit the article without anybody helping me.
To me, there is a missing syntactical link between the first sentence and the second, which was in passive voice. That meant someone approached you for help. I was not suere why using the passive and confused by that. Since you already got your question answered by GPY and Fivejedjon, just disregard my earlier post.

"Can you help to edit this article?"

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