Ayudar means 'to help', and it is a regular -ar verb that earns its place in conversation, role-plays and writing about relationships and community. The key structure is ayudar a + infinitive — ayudo a mi madre a cocinar (I help my mum cook) — and you also help a person directly with the personal a: ayudo a mi hermano. The polite request ¿me puedes ayudar? (can you help me?) is everyday gold. Because it is regular and turns up in so many practical situations, from chores at home to helping in the community, ayudar is well worth getting fluent.
Quick facts
Ayudar (to help) is a regular -ar verb.
Real sentences across different tenses — the kind of thing you'd actually say or write.
Personal a: ayudo a mi madre (I help my mum).
Ayudar a + infinitive: ayudo a cocinar (I help cook).
¿Me puedes ayudar? (can you help me?).
¿Te ayudo? (shall I help you?).
Fixed expressions worth knowing — they come up in listening, reading and writing tasks.
Idiomatic expressions
Ayudar is a regular verb. Make sure you know the endings for each tense — especially the preterite and subjunctive, which is where marks are most often lost.
ayudar is a regular -ar verb — it follows the standard -ar pattern in every tense. That makes it a good one to drill: if you know ayudar, you know the template for all regular -ar verbs.
Type conjugations from memory and get instant feedback. That's how you actually build the automatic recall the exam needs — not from reading tables.
Practice ayudar now →Three questions. Press Enter to check each answer.
yo: ayudo, tú: ayudas, él: ayuda, nosotros: ayudamos, vosotros: ayudáis, ellos: ayudan
Ayudar is a regular -ar verb following the standard -ar pattern.
Use ayudar in multiple tenses to show range — present, preterite and future at minimum. This is a key criterion for higher GCSE marks.
Verbs that are easy to confuse with ayudar or that behave like it.
This reference is written for UK GCSE and A-Level Spanish learners and their teachers. It is designed for exam revision: every form is checked against standard conjugation rules, and the examples reflect the registers and topics that come up in the AQA, Edexcel and Eduqas specifications. Ayudar is a high-frequency verb and appears often in exam papers. For active recall, use the free practice tool rather than only reading the tables.