When you learn Spanish, there’ll come a time when you’ll need gente servicial (helpful people), personas amables (kind people), provechosos consejos (helpful advice), and a herramienta útil (helpful tool) like Rosetta Stone to guide them on their language learning journey.
You’ve probably learned the words ayudar (to help) and la ayuda (help) in different Spanish parts of speech, so you may be curious why none of the above examples used a similar word for “helpful” in Spanish. This guide will be útil (helpful) for learning how to translate this concept in various situations.
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Ways to describe a helpful person in Spanish
Some people, due to their personality or profession, can be described as “helpful” in Spanish. Your options are:
- amable (kind/helpful)
- servicial (helpful/eager to serve)
- atento/atenta (attentive)
Remember, with Spanish adjectives like atento/atenta, you’ll match the form to the gender of the noun it describes.
- María Teresa es una empleada muy atenta. = María Teresa is a very attentive employee.
- El personal es muy atento. = The staff is very attentive.
Thank someone for their help in Spanish
It’s a great idea to know some ways to say “thank you for your help” in Spanish to a person who has assisted you.
- Gracias, muy amable. = Thank you, that’s kind of you.
- Gracias por ayudarme/ayudarnos. = Thank you for helping me/helping us.
- Gracias por ser tan atento/atenta. = Thank you for being so attentive.
- Gracias por ser tan amable y servicial. = Thank you for being so kind and helpful.
The latter two are a bit more formal and would be a great way to thank a staff member who goes out of their way to be of service, particularly in a written review.
How to describe helpful advice in Spanish
Not all consejos (pieces of advice) are necessarily welcome, but to describe advice that truly helped in Spanish, you might say that they were:
- provechosos (useful/beneficial)
- útiles (useful)
You can also restructure your sentence to use the verb ayudar more actively, and to avoid awkward translations of “helpful.”
- Los consejos me ayudaron mucho. = The advice helped me a lot.
- Lo que dice me ayuda a entenderlo. = What you’re saying helps me understand it.
If you’re working with a profesor particular (individual tutor) or conversation partner, you might also ask for helpful examples or explanations. Note that the adjective placement in these examples is after the noun.
- ¿Tienes algunos consejos útiles para entender la diferencia entre “por” y “para”? = Do you have any helpful advice for understanding the difference between por and para?
- ¿Tienes una explicación útil de la diferencia entre “saber” y “conocer?” = Do you have a useful explanation of the difference between saber and conocer?
Say that an object or idea is helpful in Spanish
The word útil (useful) is a good synonym of “helpful” in Spanish that you would use specifically for objects and ideas, but not for people.
- Esta almohada es muy útil para el dolor de cuello. = This pillow is helpful for my neck pain.
- La música es útil cuando estudias. = Music is helpful when you study.
- La crema es útil para la piel seca. = The cream is helpful for dry skin.
You can also form similar thoughts with the verb ayudar.
- Esta almohada me ayuda con el dolor de cuello. = This pillow helps me with my neck pain.
- La música me ayuda cuando estudio. = Music helps me when I study.
- La crema va a ayudarte con la piel seca. = The cream is going to help you with your dry skin.
Key phrases to talk about help and helpfulness
These related phrases can help you ask for and receive help in Spanish and add variety to your word choice and descriptions.
| Spanish | English |
| aliviar | to relieve |
| apoyar | to support |
| ¡Ayuda! | Help! |
| ¡Auxilio!/¡Socorro! | Help me! (I need rescuing) |
| el desarrollo personal | self-help/personal development |
| facilitar | to facilitate |
| ¿Le puedo ayudar en algo? | Can I help you with anything?/How can I help you? (formal) |
| ¿Me puedes dar una mano? | Can you give me a hand? (informal) |
| ¿Me echas una mano? | Can you lend me a hand? (informal) |
| mejorar | to improve |
| No puedo evitarlo. | I can’t help myself./I can’t avoid it. |
| el servicio de asistencia/el servicio de ayuda técnica | the help desk |
| Sírvete/Sírvase | Help yourself! (Serve yourself food, etc as you wish) |
| ¿Te ayudo? | Can I help you? (informal) |
Do you know how to pronounce the word útil? Rosetta Stone’s TruAccent speech recognition will teach you from the first day that Spanish pronunciation of the vowel “u” is more like “oo.” You won’t hear the “y” sound like in the English word for “useful” or the Spanish word ayuda. The accent on the “ú” means that you emphasize the first sound.
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