I am trying an English quiz. Which is correct:
- I called to ask Mary for help.
or,
- I called Mary to ask for help.
Learn English – “I called to ask Mary for help” or “I called Mary to ask for help”
infinitivessubordinate-clausestransitivityword-order
Related Solutions
"I ask you to consider" and "I ask that you consider" are correct. "I ask you consider" is incorrect without further context.
Depending on the rest of the sentence, you may want to rephrase it as "Please consider...". Some example sentences:
"I ask that you consider your mother's feelings before you make a decision."
"Please consider your mother's feelings before you make a decision."
"I ask you to consider the consequences carefully before answering."
"Please consider my request for an extension."
After the verb Help, you can have an infinitive form of verb. The infinitive form can be either a to-infinitive or a bare infinitive. That is actually optional. Mostly in conversation or informal English, the to is often left out.
Examples -
He helps him (to) learn Russian.
Alex helped a blind man (to) cross the road.
N.B So a bare infinitive as well as an infinitive with to is both acceptable after help. But it's observed that in BrE the to-infinitive form dominates, though bare infinitive also occurs in BrE. On the other hand in AmE a bare infinitive is preferable. When there is a repetition of to (a pattern of to + help + to + verb) as in this sentence - she allowed Pearl to help her to stack up her hair - a bare infinitive is generally occurs. Another place where bare infinitive is preferred is when there is an intervening noun phrase as in help people break the cycle of poverty. Bryan A. Garner writes the better usage is to use bare infinitive after help, while Pam Peter says the preference of to-infinitive in BrE is because of their conservatism but this practice is changing.
Some pattern with help from Google’s Ngram viewer
For the help + (to) learn
For the help + (to) do
For the help + (to) dig
Best Answer
They're both correct. Use whichever sentence communicates the meaning you have in mind.
Both sentences leave something unknown, but without further context, most people would assume that the unknown in each case is Mary. Unless there's context to suggest otherwise, the sentences are roughly equivalent.