Breakdown of Помоги мне выбрать подарок.
мне
to me
помогать
to help
подарок
gift, present
выбрать
to choose (perfective)
Questions & Answers about Помоги мне выбрать подарок.
Why is the perfective verb выбрать used here instead of the imperfective выбирать?
After verbs of success, achievement, or getting things done (like helping someone complete a task), Russian uses the perfective infinitive. The goal of helping here is to successfully arrive at a final choice, so we use the perfective выбрать to focus on that result.
Why does the sentence use мне instead of меня?
The verb помочь (and its imperfective pair помогать) always takes the Dative case for the person receiving the help. Therefore, the Accusative меня is incorrect here; it must be the Dative мне.
Is подарок in the Nominative or Accusative case here?
It is in the Accusative case because it is the direct object being chosen. However, since подарок is a masculine inanimate noun, its Accusative form looks exactly the same as its Nominative dictionary form.
How do we get the imperative form помоги from the dictionary form помочь?
Imperatives are built from the plural 'they' form of the verb. For the perfective помочь, the 'they' form is помогут. We drop the -ут to get the stem помог-. Since the stem ends in a consonant, we add -и, giving us помоги.
Learn Помоги мне выбрать подарок and more in Russian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free