Learn English – Usage of “be a help, be of help, be (any, much,little) help, be of (any, much, little help)

collocations

I looked up the above-mentioned collocations in different dictionaries and still don't know how to use them properly. The question is not about the meaning "to be helpful", but when to use which.Can we use them interchangeably? Thank you.

Was he (any/a/of any/of much/ help to them?- No, he wasn't (a/much/any/of much/of any)help.

Best Answer

Was he any help to them? (most common)
Was he much help to them?
Was he of any help to them?

All ask the question was "he" able to offer help. "Of any help", or "of much help" is used to ask if there was even a small bit of help provided where the expectation of the asker is there will be a negative answer.

No, he wasn't any help. (most common)
No, he wasn't much help.

are the replies for saying he was not able to help.

"Much help" is usually used in the negative "not much help", if someone was "much help", "he was much help" it would usually be phrased "he was very helpful".

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