# Please help me with my English!



## seitt

Greetings,
 
What is the best way to say in Colloquial Greek “Please help me with my English!”?
 
Best wishes, and many thanks,

Simon


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## Αλέξανδρος

I think a better translation would need a context, why/when would you ask that? Anyway,
"Μπορείτε να με βοηθήσετε με τα Αγγλικά μου, σας παρακαλώ;", would be a possible polite question.


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## seitt

Many thanks - I mainly wanted to find out which preposition was used.

Is the following also possible?
"Μπορείτε να με βοηθήσετε στα Αγγλικά μου, σας παρακαλώ;"


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## shawnee

You could say it and it would be understood, but only as 'broken' Greek. Αλεξανδρος has posted the best option με τα - with + plural article.


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## orthophron

Hi! I find both options correct, but I prefer "_Μπορείτε να με βοηθήσετε στα Αγγλικά;_" (this one sounds better without "μου"). You can say, of course, "_Μπορείτε να με βοηθήσετε με τα Αγγλικά μου_;"


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## Αλέξανδρος

No, even though "στα Αγγλικά" is not wrong, it doesn't have the same meaning. Μπορείτε να με βοηθήσετε στα Αγγλικά would translate to Can you help me in English, that is, "talk in English while helping me"... At least that's how I would understand it.

"Στα Αγγλικά μου" is just wrong, but as Shawnee said, you would be understood.


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## orthophron

> No, even though "στα Αγγλικά" is not wrong, it doesn't have the same meaning. Μπορείτε να με βοηθήσετε στα Αγγλικά would translate to Can you help me in English, that is, "talk in English while helping me"... At least that's how I would understand it.
> 
> "Στα Αγγλικά μου" is just wrong, but as Shawnee said, you would be understood.


So, what does "_βοηθώ κάποιον στα Μαθηματικά_" mean then?


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## Αλέξανδρος

Sure, but helping with a class/lesson isn't what the original question is asking, at least not what I would understand out of context (that's why I asked for the context in my first answer). When someone says help me with my french/english/whatever, he usually means that his grasp of the language is not good enough and he needs you to help him express his thoughts in that language.

In which case, 'στα' does not sound right. At least not for the translation of the original phrase.

Since you mentioned it, Mathematics is not a language, and while "Πέστο στα Αγγλικά" means something, "Πέστο στα Μαθηματικά".... usually doesn't.
Unless, say, you are a student, and one of your classmates challenges you to shout out a certain phrase during Maths class. Then all of a sudden the above phrase makes perfect sense... and also the first one changes meaning, if you think of "English" as a class and not a language....

Everything depends on context... and if someone was asking for help with his English, I would never translate that to 'βοήθεια στα Αγγλικά'. Μaybe it's grammatically correct, and yes, if you think of English as 'homework' then your sentence makes sense, but it's a bad translation of the original question, at least out of context.


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## shawnee

I will, as 'needs must', defer to the natives. While I am prepared to retract my 'broken Greek' comment, I still lean towards my initial preference for με τα in this instance, which is thankfully supported by one native at least.


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## seitt

By its very nature, I should imagine that the kind of Greek used in talking about the English language has been particularly greatly influenced by English. 

I notice, for instance, that "Μπορείτε να με βοηθήσετε με τα Αγγλικά μου;" is, in effect, a word for word translation from the English equivalent.

So, perhaps, στα Αγγλικά without μου is what people would have said thirty or forty years ago?


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## Αλέξανδρος

No, just because something can be translated word for word doesn't mean it was influenced. You would say the same for any language. You still haven't told us if your question refers to  English homework or not... If not my first answer stands..


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## orthophron

As I see, Αλέξανδρος believes "βοηθώ κάποιον στα Αγγλικά" is an incorrect translation unless "English" means classes. Supposing it means the language or the way one speaks it, how would one render the sentence "help somebody with the [English] language"?

Let's see first what another Greek native has to say about the structures of "βοηθώ": Λεξικό Κοινής Νεοελληνικής 
 *βοηθώ* [voiθó] & *-άω, -ιέμαι* Ρ10.11 & *-ούμαι* Ρ10.9β *:* *1.* παρέχω, προσφέρω βοήθεια, συνδρομή (υλική, ηθική κτλ.): _Bοηθάει τους γονείς της οικονομικά. *Bοηθάει τη γυναίκα του στις δουλειές του σπιτιού*. Σ΄ ευχαριστώ που με βοήθησες. Ο Θεός να σε βοηθάει,_ ως ευχή_. Δεν τον βοήθησε η τύχη. Δε με βοηθάει η μνήμη μου,_ δεν μπορώ να θυμηθώ. || ελεώ: _Bοηθάει τους φτωχούς. Bοηθήστε τον αόμματο!_ || (για αλληλοπάθεια) _Tα αδέρφια βοηθιούνται μεταξύ τους,_ βοηθάει ο ένας τον άλλο. *2.* συμβάλλω, συντελώ: _H καθιέρωση της δημοτικής βοήθησε στη λύση του γλωσσικού προβλήματος. H τοπική αυτοδιοίκηση μπορεί να βοηθήσει ουσιαστικά στην αποκέντρωση._ *3.* ωφελώ, χρησιμεύω: _Οι συμβουλές σου με βοήθησαν πολύ. Δε__ θα__ σε__ βοηθήσουν__ τα__ δάκρυα__._

From what he reads, I think, a learner of Greek would conclude that sentences like "help somebody with the housekeeping/ the translation/ the language" should be rendered as "βοηθώ κάποιον* στο* νοικοκυριό/* στη* μετάφραση/* στη* γλώσσα (consequently: *στα* Αγγλικά)". 
 
Of course, to be fair, one can use "με"; this preposition can be used irrespectively of the verb to express relation (meaning: in relation to = αναφορικά με).
All the best!


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