helped

Helped is the past tense and past participle of the English verb help. It denotes that assistance was provided in the past or that someone has received aid. As a transitive verb, helped requires a direct object, as in "She helped the student with the project." It can also be used with an indirect object: "He helped his neighbor with groceries." In addition, helped can take a bare infinitive or the to-infinitive after the verb, for example, "She helped him move the sofa" or "She helped him to move the sofa." The passive form is "was helped" or "were helped."

Etymology and usage notes: Help comes from Old English helpan, with cognates in other Germanic languages such as Dutch helpen and German helfen. Helped is widely used across registers, from everyday speech to formal writing. Common collocations include offer help, receive help, get help, and lend a helping hand. While help and assist are synonyms, help is generally more common and versatile in tone, while assist can be slightly more formal or technical. Help can describe physical aid, emotional support, guidance, or enabling someone to accomplish a task, as in medicine helping recovery or tutoring helping understanding.