Help + Verb VS Help + Preposition
1)He helped her sit in the wheelchair.
2)He helped her into the wheelchair.

1)My mother helped me take off my wet clothes.
2)My mother helped me out of my wet clothes.

1)Help me escape from here.
2)Help me out of here.

My book says native English speakers prefer using preposition to saying two verbs. Is that true? Does "sentences 1)" sound unnatural? Thank you!

Question

Help + Verb VS Help + Preposition
1)He helped her sit in the wheelchair.
2)He helped her into the wheelchair.

1)My mother helped me take off my wet clothes.
2)My mother helped me out of my wet clothes.

1)Help me escape from here.
2)Help me out of here.

My book says native English speakers prefer using preposition to saying two verbs. Is that true? Does "sentences 1)" sound unnatural? Thank you!

Answer

They all sound fine but I would usually add "get" before the preposition in each of these examples and probably say/use that more often. Perhaps it's a British thing?

He helped her get into the wheelchair.
My mother helped me get out of my wet clothes.
Help me get out of here.

Answer

They both sound fine. But number 2 seems a lot easier to say.

In my personal opinion, I think us native speakers are kind of lazy when we speak, we always try to say the easiest and fastest way to say it. If I heard somebody using number 1 I would think they were more educated or more polite.

Answer

They sound the same to me. They mean the same thing and I wouldn't think it was strange if someone said the first sentence to me. I use the structure for the first sentences as often as the second sentences.

Answers · 6

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