helfen
to help
Ranks #211 by frequency — outside the core hundred, but common in everyday life.
- Type
- verb
- Frequency rank
- #211
- Per million words
- 305
In a sentence
Kannst du mir helfen?Can you help me?
Conjugation
Present tense of helfen, plus the forms you need to talk about the past.
| ich — I | helfe |
|---|---|
| du — you | hilfst |
| er/sie/es — he / she / it | hilft |
| wir — we | helfen |
| ihr — you (plural) | helft |
| sie — they | helfen |
| Perfect | hat geholfen |
| Simple past | half |
Forms its perfect tense with haben.
helfen is a stem-changing verb: the vowel shifts in the du and er/sie/es forms. Those two are worth memorising separately.
Related words
Other words of the same kind, at nearby frequency:
- kaufen to buy
- lieben to love
- schlafen to sleep
- heißen to be called
- fahren to drive, to travel
- fragen to ask
Practise this word
helfen is in the free trainer along with the rest of the list — flashcards, multiple choice, listening practice and spaced review. No account needed.