watasi ha douryou ni kaigi no zyunbi wo tetudatte kureru you ni tanomimasita.

I asked my coworker to help prepare for the meeting.

Breakdown of watasi ha douryou ni kaigi no zyunbi wo tetudatte kureru you ni tanomimasita.

• は: topic particle
• 私わたし: I
• を: direct object particle
• の: possessive case particle
• に: indirect object particle
• 会議かいぎ: meeting
• 準じゅん備び: preparation
• 〜て くれる: to do a favor; to do something for someone
• 同僚どうりょう: coworker
• 手伝てつだう: to help
• 頼たのむ: to ask; to request
• よう に: so that; to

Questions & Answers about watasi ha douryou ni kaigi no zyunbi wo tetudatte kureru you ni tanomimasita.

Why is に used after 同僚?

With 頼む, the person you ask is marked with に.

Patterns:

• 人に 何かを 頼む
  → ask someone (に) to do something (を)

In the sentence:

• 同僚に = to my colleague (the person receiving the request)
• …ように頼みました = asked (them) to …

So 同僚を would be wrong here. を would mark what is being requested, not who is being asked.

What role does ように play in 手伝ってくれるように頼みました?

ように after a verb in plain form often means “so that / in such a way that (someone does X)”.

The pattern V-る / V-ない ように 頼む means:

• V(plain) ように 頼む = ask (someone) to do / not do V

So:

• 手伝ってくれるように 頼みました
  → I asked (them) so that they would help me
  → I asked them to help me.

Without ように, 手伝ってくれる頼みました is ungrammatical.
You need ように to connect the action being requested to 頼む.

Why is it 手伝ってくれる and not just 手伝う?

手伝う by itself just means “to help”.

Vてくれる means “someone does V for me / for us (as a favor, for our benefit)”.

• 手伝う = help (neutral)
• 手伝ってくれる = help me / us, do me a favor by helping

Because the situation is “I asked my colleague to help me with preparations,” Japanese naturally uses 手伝ってくれる, highlighting that the colleague’s action benefits the speaker.

You could say:

• 同僚に 会議の準備を 手伝うように 頼みました。

This is grammatically OK, but it sounds a bit more neutral or slightly less natural than 手伝ってくれるように, which better matches the real-life nuance of “help me.”

Who is the subject of 手伝ってくれる? Is it 私 or 同僚?

The understood subject of 手伝ってくれる is 同僚 (the colleague).

Expanded:

• （同僚が 私のことを）手伝ってくれる
  → The colleague helps me.

Japanese drops obvious subjects. In the full sentence:

• 私 is the topic of the whole sentence (私は = as for me),
• but inside the phrase 手伝ってくれる, the acting subject is 同僚.

So structurally, it is:

• 私は [同僚に (同僚が手伝ってくれるように) 頼みました]。

Why is 会議の準備を used instead of something like 会議を準備する?

会議の準備 is a noun phrase meaning “preparation of the meeting / meeting preparation.”

• 会議 = meeting
• 準備 = preparation
• 会議の準備 = preparation for the meeting

を then marks that noun phrase as the direct object of 手伝う:

• 会議の準備を 手伝う = help (with) the preparation for the meeting

Saying 会議を準備する is possible in some contexts, but it sounds more like “prepare the meeting itself” (plan/organize the meeting).
For “help with the preparation (tasks) for the meeting,” 会議の準備を手伝う is the natural expression.

What is the difference between 頼みました and お願いしました here?

Both can translate as “asked / requested”, but the nuance differs:

• 頼む
  • Slightly more direct, everyday.
  • Can feel a bit casual or strong depending on tone and context.
• お願いする
  • Politer, softer, more formal.
  • Often used in business or when you want to be especially courteous.

In spoken business Japanese, many people would say:

• 同僚に 会議の準備を 手伝ってくれるように お願いしました。

Instead of 頼みました, to sound more polite.
In a neutral narrative sentence (e.g., in a diary or story), 頼みました is perfectly fine.

Why is 私 marked with は? Could it be が or omitted?

私は marks 私 as the topic: “as for me…”.

• 私は = As for me, I …

Here:

• 私は introduces the sentence as being about me,
• then 頼みました is the action I did.

Alternatives:

1. 私は 同僚に…頼みました。
   → Natural, neutral.

2. 私が 同僚に…頼みました。
   → Stresses that I (and not someone else) was the one who asked.
   More contrastive: “It was I who asked my colleague…”

3. 同僚に 会議の準備を…頼みました。 (omit 私)
   → Very natural if it’s already clear from context that “I” am the one speaking.

So は, が, or omission are all possible, but 私は is the standard, neutral way to introduce “I” as the topic.

Can I change the word order, like 私は会議の準備を同僚に手伝ってくれるように頼みました?

Japanese word order is relatively flexible as long as you keep the verb at the end and particles attached correctly.

These are all grammatical:

• 私は 同僚に 会議の準備を 手伝ってくれるように 頼みました。
• 私は 会議の準備を 同僚に 手伝ってくれるように 頼みました。

The first one (person first: 同僚に, then thing: 会議の準備を) is more natural and common:

• who you asked (同僚に)
• about what (会議の準備を)

If you move too many things around, it can start to sound awkward or harder to parse, but your example is still understandable and grammatically OK.

Could I shorten it to 同僚に会議の準備を頼みました? What changes?

Yes, that sentence is grammatical:

• 同僚に 会議の準備を 頼みました。
  = I asked my colleague to take care of the meeting preparation / to handle preparing the meeting.

But the meaning slightly shifts:

• 会議の準備を 手伝ってくれるように 頼みました。
  → asked them to help (me) with the preparation.

• 会議の準備を 頼みました。
  → asked them to do the preparation (entrusted the job to them).

So with 手伝ってくれる, the colleague is assisting you.
Without 手伝って, it sounds more like you are assigning them the task itself.

Why is 頼みました in the past tense? Can I use present or non-past?

Japanese ました here marks completed past action:

• 頼みました = asked (already did it)

If you want to talk about something you regularly do or are about to do, you’d use non-past:

• よく 同僚に 会議の準備を 手伝ってくれるように 頼みます。
  → I often ask my colleagues to help with meeting preparation.

• これから 同僚に 会議の準備を 手伝ってくれるように 頼みます。
  → I will now ask my colleague to help with the meeting preparation.

So yes, you can use non-past (頼みます) if the time frame you want to express is present/future or habitual, but the example sentence is describing a past event.

How does 頼む with に and を work? I sometimes see both.

頼む has two main patterns:

1. 人に 物／こと を 頼む
   → ask someone (に) for something (を)

   • 同僚に 会議の準備を 頼む。
     → ask a colleague to handle the meeting preparation

2. 人に V(plain) ように 頼む
   → ask someone (に) to do V

   • 同僚に 手伝ってくれるように 頼む。
     → ask a colleague to help (me)

In your sentence, the two patterns are combined:

• 同僚に (person asked)
• 会議の準備を (object of 手伝う)
• 手伝ってくれるように 頼みました (requested action)

So に always marks the person you are asking; を is either the thing requested or, as here, the object inside the requested action.