Help/ help with

Question

What is the difference between help and help with?Thanks

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

AnonymousWhat is the difference between help and help with?

In which sentence(s)? Depending on the context, there may be no difference or there may be some difference. We'll need more to go on in order to answer your question. Can you post some sentences where this difference is bothering you?

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

She helped with the kids/ she helped the kids.

I help with the bills/ I help the bills- I know this one is wrong but I can't find a rule.

Would be really grateful if you could help me,

S

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousShe helped with the kids/ she helped the kids.

I help with the bills/ I help the bills- I know this one is wrong but I can't find a rule.

I'm beginning to understand your difficulties.

To help with "something" is to help someone perform some service with regard to the "something", like this:

She helped with the kids. = She helped (somebody - We don't know who) to take care of the kids.

= She helped (somebody) to watch the kids.

= She helped --- dress the kids / wash the kids / get the kids to school.

We don't know anything about what she actually did. We only know that what she did was helpful with regard to the kids.

I help with the bills. = I help (somebody - We don't know who) to

compute the bills / send the bills / examine the bills / pay the bills / ???

We don't know anything about what I actually do. We only know that what I do is helpful with regard to the bills.

________________________________

As for your other questions, you can only help a person, so you can't help bills. The bills aren't trying to do anything, so you can't help them. You can, however, help the kids. They are people. When you help the kids, you help them to do something.

She helped the kids. = She did something that was helpful to the kids.

= She did something that made it easier for the kids to do something.

But we don't know what the kids were trying to do. Maybe she helped the kids write a story. Maybe she helped the kids make sandwiches. Maybe she helped them to paint a picture. We only know that she helped them to do something.

__________________

In summary, She helped with the kids means she helped "somebody unknown" work with the kids in some way, but She helped the kids means she helped the kids (not just "somebody unknown") to do something. In the first case, we don't know who received help; in the second case we know that the kids received help.

CJ

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