Questions & Answers about Случайный прохожий помог мне с пакетом.
Why is мне used here instead of я or меня?
Мне is the dative case of я (I).
- я – nominative (subject): Я иду. – I am going.
- меня – accusative/genitive (direct object, some prepositions): Он видит меня. – He sees me.
- мне – dative (indirect object, “to/for me”): Он помогает мне. – He helps me.
The verb помогать / помочь (to help) in Russian takes the person you help in the dative case:
- помог мне – helped me (literally: helped to me).
Why is it помог, not помогал? What is the difference?