chinguege siheom gongbureul dowadallago butakhaesseoyo.

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Questions & Answers about chinguege siheom gongbureul dowadallago butakhaesseoyo.

What does 에게 mean in 친구에게? Can I use 한테 instead?
에게 is a dative particle marking the indirect object, meaning “to” or “for.” 친구에게 means “to a friend.” In casual conversation, you can replace 에게 with 한테 (친구한테). 에게 is slightly more formal or written, while 한테 is colloquial.
Why do we need after 시험 공부 in 시험 공부를 도와달라고?
is the object marker. It indicates that 시험 공부 (“exam studying”) is what you want help with. Without , the phrase would be grammatically incomplete because Korean requires objects to be marked.
What is the role of -달라고 in 도와달라고?

-달라고 is a quoted request clause formed from:
• The verb stem + 달라 (imperative of 주다, “give me”/“do for me”)
• + , the quotative particle
So 도와달라고 literally means “(I) said ‘please help.’” It turns the request into a noun clause you can attach to 부탁하다.

Why is 부탁했어요 needed? Isn’t -달라고 already a request?
-달라고 only expresses the content of your request. 부탁했어요 (past polite form of 부탁하다, “to ask a favor”) actually reports that you made the request. Together, 도와달라고 부탁했어요 means “I asked [them] to help.”
Could I change the politeness level? How would I say this in plain style or more honorific?

Yes. You can adjust both the particles and the verb:
• Plain (반말): 친구한테 시험 공부를 도와달라고 부탁했어.
• More honorific toward the friend: 친구에게 시험 공부를 도와달라고 부탁드렸어요.
Here 부탁드리다 is the honorific equivalent of 부탁하다.

Why is the subject “I” not explicitly in the sentence?
Korean often omits subjects when context makes them clear. In this sentence, it’s obvious the speaker (I) is the one who did the asking, so 저는 or 나는 is dropped.
Can I use -아/어 주세요 instead of -달라고 부탁했어요?

You can form a direct request with -아/어 주세요, but that’s an imperative rather than reporting a past request. For example:
• Directly asking your friend now: 친구에게 시험 공부를 도와주세요.
• Reporting that you asked someone else to ask your friend: 친구에게 시험 공부를 도와달라고 해주세요.
Each choice changes who you’re addressing and whether you’re stating a past request or making a new one.