美国文化脱口秀 第348期:原来英语帮忙要这样问

 谁都有要帮忙的时候。但是只会一句"Can you help me?"远远不够。不同的忙、不同的人，问法也不一样。今天，我们教你怎么恰当地ask for help！

关键词：

There are many different ways to ask for help in English. How you ask differs on the nature of the favor:

英语有很多不同的方法问人帮忙，情况不同，问法也不同

We're going to start from small favors and work our way up to big favors:

我们今天会从小忙说到大忙

帮我个小忙，最常用的问法：

Could you do me a quick/small favor? 你能帮我个小忙吗？

Favor: 帮个忙

注意，要用could, 别用can

It has nothing to do with tense. It's about politeness and respect: 跟时态没关系，而是表达客气、尊重的方法

除了"Could you do me a small/quick favor", 还能这么问：

Do you have a second/sec/minute? 你能帮我一下吗？

Do you have some time? 你有时间吗？你现在方便吗？

有没有发现，这几句都没用到“help"这个词；其实口语里寻求帮助，很少用到"help”，原因我们稍后说。

原来英语帮忙要这样问

能打扰你一下吗？

How to make a request if someone is busy？如果别人手头有事，怎么问？

问法都和时间有关：

Is now a good time? 你现在方便吗？

Are you free right now? 你现在有空吗？

Could I interrupt you for a second? 我能打扰你一下吗？

借我你的手

Another great way to ask for help is using the word "hand": 还有一个特别精彩的问法，和手有关

Could you give/lend me a hand? 你能帮帮我吗？

Could you give/lend me a quick hand? 你能帮我一下吗？

记住上面这些，小忙都搞定！但是，大忙呢？

How do you ask for bigger favors? 大忙怎么问呢？

The tone¹ of voice and the pause between the request and the favor mark the difference between a small and a big favor: 语气、还有字句间的停顿会传递出你要人帮的是小忙、还是大忙

Usually the bigger the favor, the bigger the pause: 通常忙越大、停顿越长

要人帮大忙，最实用的问法：

Could you do me a favor? 你能帮我一个忙吗？（然后一个大停顿...)

I don't know how to say this, but...我不知道怎么说，但是...

I don't know how to put it, but...我不知道怎么开口, 但是...

I'm so sorry to ask...but...我太不好意思了，但是...

总之，放慢语速、语气凝重一些, 再加个but

最后，说说Help怎么用

Usually you don't just ask "Could you help me?"通常不会只说“Could you help me?"

It's usually help plus something: 一般help后面都会加点内容

例如：

Could you help me out?...你能帮我一下吗？

Could you help me with something?...你能帮我个忙吗？

Could you help me? ＝救救我！

“Could you help me?" or "Help me" sounds like it's a really urgent situation: 这两个说法通常是很紧急的情况下用的

1 tone   

n.语气，音调，气度，色调；vt.（up）增强

参考例句：

• There was a tone of mockery in his voice.他说话的语气含有嘲笑的意味。
• Holmes used an informal,chatty tone in his essays.霍姆斯在文章中语气轻松随便。