would you help me with my homework

Homework Q&A

Drag image here or click to upload

• Anatomy & Physiology
• Astrophysics
• Earth Science
• Environmental Science
• Organic Chemistry
• Precalculus
• Trigonometry
• English Grammar
• U.S. History
• World History

HIX Tutor AI Homework Helper

Solve hard problems and prepare for exams with a trustworthy homework AI!

AI Homework Helper That's Got Everything Covered

Say goodbye to your homework and exam stress! Make studying a joy with HIX Tutor, a smart AI homework helper. Get detailed, step-by-step solutions to any hard homework and exam problems.

Accuracy-Guaranteed Homework AI

HIX Tutor uses the power of the latest GPT models but goes beyond just that. With our tailored enhancements, it provides quick, precise, and comprehensive homework assistance for all subjects.

Accuracy rate

Average grade increase

How Our Homework AI Works?

Our homework AI is designed to help you master your study with ease.

Ask Your Question

Upload the document or image of your homework problem, or type your question.

We Run the Analysis

Our advanced homework AI will analyze the questions and prepare the solutions.

Get The Detailed Answer

Get the detailed, step-by-step AI answer, ready to be used on your homework.

AI Homework Helper That Covers All Subjects

HIX Tutor is a trusted AI question solver for your homework in any subject.

From basic arithmetic to advanced calculus, get understandable steps for complex math problems.

Demystify topics ranging from basic mechanics to advanced electromagnetism with detailed solutions

Dive into the depths of prose, poetry, and plays. Analyze themes, decipher metaphors, and understand historical contexts

Chemistry AI

Guide yourself through chemical equation balancing, reaction mechanisms, and periodic trends. Solve chemistry problems faster than ever.

Clarify doubts, and get insights on complex processes and terminologies. Get accurate answers to hard biology questions.

Foreign Languages

Master vocabulary, grammar, and conversation practice. Achieve fluency more easily in any language.

Distinctive Question AI

See why our question AI outperforms other competitors out there:

Well-Explained Answers

HIX Tutor doesn't just give you the answer only, but also offers a comprehensive explanation and a step-by-step guide to enhance your understanding.

Various Inputs Supported

You can simply type your question, or upload the document or image containing your question to ask HIX Tutor for help.

Instant Study Help

HIX Tutor is ready to solve any question you have 24/7. Feed it the problem, and you'll get accurate answers in a flash.

Why Rely On Our AI Question Solver?

What is homework AI?

Homework AI refers to advanced AI tools created to help students with their homework and academic assignments. These tools use sophisticated algorithms to offer immediate solutions, explanations, and assistance in various subjects, such as math, science, and literature.

Is HIX Tutor's question AI free?

Yes, Our question AI is free to try! You can access our features without any cost initially. However, if you require extensive usage beyond the free limit, you will need to upgrade to a paid subscription for continued access.

What's the best AI homework helper?

The best AI homework helper currently available is HIX Tutor. This innovative tool is designed to assist students across a wide range of subjects, providing instant and accurate answers to homework questions. HIX Tutor stands out due to its ability to analyze complex problems and deliver detailed, step-by-step solutions, making studying more efficient and enjoyable.

How does HIX Tutor provide help with homework?

HIX Tutor offers step-by-step solutions and detailed explanations to help you understand and solve homework questions. It can assist with your study in various subjects including math, physics, chemistry, biology, and more.

Is HIX Tutor a homework AI for both high school and college students?

Yes, HIX Tutor is designed to cater to the academic needs of both high school and college students, adjusting the complexity of explanations and solutions to match the level of the student.

As an AI question solver, can HIX Tutor help me prepare for exams?

Absolutely. HIX Tutor's question AI can provide instant answers to practice questions and explain complex concepts to help you prepare effectively for your exams.

How accurate is HIX Tutor as a homework AI helper?

HIX Tutor is built with advanced algorithms and is regularly updated to ensure about 98% accuracy in solving problems and providing explanations. However, as with any tool, it's recommended to cross-check solutions when possible.

Will using our question AI be considered cheating?

Our question AI tool is intended as a study aid to enhance learning and understanding. It's important to use it responsibly and abide by your school or institution's academic integrity policies.

Can this AI homework helper tackle textbook material?

Yes, our AI homework helper can explain concepts presented in textbooks, clarify difficult ideas, and solve practice problems to enhance your comprehension of the material.

Does this homework AI offer personalized learning experiences?

Yes, our homework AI adapts to your own learning requirements, offering personalized feedback and solutions based on your specific needs and progress.

Discover Accurate Answers to Frequently Asked Homework Questions

• How is blood in the feet returned to the heart against the force of gravity?
• Are muscles and glands part of the central nervous system, receptors, part of the peripheral nervous system, or effectors?
• What is the longest cranial nerve?
• What is the pH of carbon dioxide? What is the pH of carbon dioxide?
• What is the medical term for the eardrum?
• How do sweat glands protect the human body?
• What is an infarct of right and left parietal lobes of brain?
• What changes occur in a human body after death?
• Bones are part of which system?
• What is the purpose of the microvilli of the small intestine?
• What is the distance from earth to the planet pluto in meters?
• Do any other planet in our solar system have Iron metal, not necessarily in the core?
• What is the brightest planet seen from earth?
• How does red shift relate to the universe?
• Why do astronomers try to find the distance to stars using parallax?
• Is our solar system really a binary star system?
• Does the solar system change over time?
• How far is the sun from earth in light years?
• What causes day and night and different seasons?
• What is the parallax formula?
• How can meteorites be interplanetary arks?
• How does luminosity differ from the brightness of the same object as seen at the earth?
• How can solar flares affect communications on earth?
• Light from the sun travels through space to Earth's atmosphere. What will light waves do when they move from empty space into matter made up of different gases?
• How can parallax be used to determine distances?
• When can the zodiacal light be seen during the night?
• In which layer of the atmosphere are the ionized particles that cause the aurora borealis?
• What makes the speed of light exactly 299,792,458 metres per second?
• What is the temperature of betelgeuse?
• What is a magnetic field? How were they formed?
• What term defines a gene made up of two different alleles?
• How do stomata help conserve water?
• What is in atp that ADP also has?
• Why do materials diffuse across a membrane?
• How are angiosperms and gymnosperms related?
• How are the long DNA molecules found in eukaryotes packed into short chromosomes?
• Why is a species hard to define?
• What is the importance of matter cycles to an ecosystem?
• Are protists autotroph or heterotroph?
• What is the taxonomic classification of a horse?
• How many electrons are in an isotope of nitrogen with 8 neutrons?
• A given volume of a buffer solution contains #6.85 x 10^-3# mol of the weak acid HY and #2.98 x 10^-3# mol of the salt NaY. The pH of the buffer solution is 3.78. How do you calculate the value of #pKa# for the acid HY at this temperature?
• A sample of hydrogen gas is mixed with water vapor. The mixture has a total pressure of 745torr, and the water vapor has a partial pressure of 24 torr. What is the partial pressure of the hydrogen gas?
• For the reaction, #"2XO + O"_2 → "2XO"_2#, data obtained from measurement of the initial rate of reaction at varying concentrations are?
• How much calcium metal must be added to an excess of water to produce 3.7g of calcium hydroxide?
• What are the mole fractions of each component prepared by adding #5*g# of water to #95*g# of ethanol?
• What is the value of the equilibrium constant at 655 K for each of the following reactions?
• Calculate no. Of photons emitted by a 60 watt light bulb in 10 h if a bulb emitted least 6.62 A°?
• What is the atomic number of carbon?
• Why did Mendeleev have problems arranging the elements #Te# and #I#?
• Why do sedimentary rocks have layers?
• Does every rock go through the complete rock cycle, from igneous rock to sedimentary rock to metamorphic rock and back to igneous rock, each time around?
• What is the difference between lava and magma?
• What are the three factors that contribute the most to the formation of coastal currents?
• What are two recreational activities that can speed up weathering by exposing new rock surfaces?
• What is convection and how is it related to the mantle?
• How does the sun affect the solar system?
• What traps solar energy in the atmosphere?
• What is residence time and what are the average residence time for some of the major water reservoirs on earth?
• How do soils differ from sediments?
• What does the mining reclamation process look like?
• When did the world population reach 1 billion?
• Where is an elephant on the food pyramid?
• Is natural selection a law or theory?
• How does the rock cycle affect the atmosphere of the earth?
• What does the future of nuclear energy around the world look like?
• Do living organisms defy the second law of thermodynamics?
• What are some positive and negative impacts of agriculture?
• What are four examples of air pollutants?
• How can nuclear energy be improved?
• How is #NH_3 # acting in the reaction #H^++:NH_3 ->[H:NH_3]^+#according to the Lewis definition?
• What is ethyl alcohol used for?
• How can benzene be separated from thiophene chemically?
• Are aromatic amines less basic?
• What does "cis" isomer mean in cyclohexane ring?
• How do you draw geometric isomers?
• What amino acid has an aromatic ring in its side chain?
• How are SN1 and SN2 reactions different?
• How can I read a #C^13 NMR# spectrum?
• Why are there different Newman projections for one molecule in organic chemistry?
• If a worker pulls a 10kg bucket up a 25 m well, how much work has he or she done?
• If a projectile is shot at a velocity of #2 m/s# and an angle of #pi/6#, how far will the projectile travel before landing?
• The force applied against a moving object travelling on a linear path is given by #F(x)= sinx + 2 #. How much work would it take to move the object over #x in [ 0, (7 pi) / 8 ] #?
• A charge of #18 C# passes through a circuit every #4 s#. If the circuit can generate #24 W# of power, what is the circuit's resistance?
• A projectile is shot at an angle of #pi/8 # and a velocity of # 8 m/s#. How far away will the projectile land?
• What is the kinetic energy of a #8 kg# object moving at #5/4 m/s#?
• A ball with a mass of #350 g# is projected vertically by a spring loaded contraption. The spring in the contraption has a spring constant of #9 (kg)/s^2# and was compressed by #7/4 m# when the ball was released. How high will the ball go?
• An electric toy car with a mass of #5 kg# is powered by a motor with a voltage of #12 V# and a current supply of #1 A#. How long will it take for the toy car to accelerate from rest to #3 m/s#?
• A projectile is shot from the ground at an angle of #pi/12 # and a speed of #8 /3 m/s#. Factoring in both horizontal and vertical movement, what will the projectile's distance from the starting point be when it reaches its maximum height?
• A model train with a mass of #4 kg# is moving along a track at #9 (cm)/s#. If the curvature of the track changes from a radius of #36 cm# to #24 cm#, by how much must the centripetal force applied by the tracks change?
• How do you simplify #\frac { 18x ^ { 4} y ^ { 3} } { 24x ^ { 2} y ^ { 3} }#?
• How do you factor # 2x^2 - 13x#?
• How do find the vertex and axis of symmetry, and intercepts for a quadratic equation #y=x^2-7x-28#?
• How do you find the c that makes the trinomial #x^2+22x+c# a perfect square?
• What is the vertex of # y= 4(x+2)^2-2x^2-4x+3#?
• How do you write the quadratic in vertex form given #y=x^2-5#?
• How do you factor completely #2x^3+10x^2+14x+70#?
• How do you solve using the completing the square method #x^2 + 2x = 7#?
• What is the axis of symmetry and vertex for the graph #y= -7x^2#?
• How do you write #y = x^2 - 9x - 10# into vertex form?
• What is the derivative of #f(x)=(x^2-4)ln(x^3/3-4x)#?
• How do you differentiate #cos(pi*x^2)#?
• What is the derivative of #y=sin(tan2x)#?
• What is the derivative of this function #arcsec(x^3)#?
• What is the derivative of this function #y=sin^-1(2x)#?
• What is the derivative of this function #sin^-1(x/4)#?
• How do you differentiate #(3+sin(x))/(3x+cos(x))#?
• How do you differentiate #f(x)= 1/ (lnx)# using the quotient rule?
• How do you find the derivative of #y=tan(3x)# ?
• How do you differentiate #g(y) =(60x^2+74)( 2x+2) # using the product rule?
• How can we find the area of irregular shapes?
• A triangle has corners at #(5 ,1 )#, #(2 ,9 )#, and #(4 ,3 )#. What is the area of the triangle's circumscribed circle?
• What is the trinomial that represents the area of a rectangular rug whose sides are (x+3) feet and (2x-1) feet?
• A triangle has corners at #(5 ,6 )#, #(4 ,3 )#, and #(2 ,2 )#. What is the area of the triangle's circumscribed circle?
• What is the area of the quadrilateral bounded by #y=5#; #x=1#; #y=1#; and #y=-2x+9#?
• How is the formula for the area of a parallelogram ABCD derived?
• Circle A has a center at #(2 ,5 )# and a radius of #2 #. Circle B has a center at #(4 ,-1 )# and a radius of #6 #. Do the circles overlap? If not, what is the smallest distance between them?
• An equilateral triangle is circumscribed inside a circle with a radius of 6. What is the area of the triangle?
• Two corners of an isosceles triangle are at #(5 ,8 )# and #(9 ,2 )#. If the triangle's area is #36 #, what are the lengths of the triangle's sides?
• How do you find the circumference of a circle with a diameter of 7.5 in?
• Jeanie has a 3/4 yard piece of ribbon. She needs one 3/8 yard piece and one 1/2 yard piece. Can she cut the piece of ribbon into the two smaller pieces? Why?
• How do you find the GCF of #25k, 35j#?
• How do you write 132/100 in a mixed number?
• How do you evaluate the power #2^3#?
• How do you simplify #(4^6)^2 #?
• How do you convert 3.2 tons to pounds?
• How do you solve #\frac { 5} { 8} + \frac { 3} { 2} ( 4- \frac { 1} { 4} ) - \frac { 1} { 8}#?
• Tiffany pays $40 for 160 minutes of talk time on her cell phone. How many minutes of talk time does she get per dollar?
• Jay made 8 of 10 free throws. Kim made 25 of 45. Who made free throws at the better rate?
• How do you convert the word phrase to symbols. "The product of twenty and eight, increased by ten?"
• How do you describe the end behavior for #f(x)=x^4-x^2-2#?
• How do you find vertical, horizontal and oblique asymptotes for #y = (4x^3 + x^2 + x + 5 )/( x^2 + 3x)#?
• How do you find all the asymptotes for function #y=(3x^2+2x-1)/(x^2-4 )#?
• How do you find the asymptotes for #f(x) = (x^2) / (x^2 + 1)#?
• How do you find #f(x)# and #g(x)# when #h(x)= (x+1)^2 -9(x+1)# and #h(x)= (fog)(x)#?
• How do you determine whether the graph of #y^2+3x=0# is symmetric with respect to the x axis, y axis or neither?
• How do you determine whether the graph of #y^2=(4x^2)/9-4# is symmetric with respect to the x axis, y axis, the line y=x or y=-x, or none of these?
• How do you find the inverse of #y=x^(2)-6x+4# and is it a function?
• How do you write a rule for the nth term of the arithmetic sequence and then find #a_10# for #d=5, a_5=33#?
• How do you solve #2^(x-1)=23#?
• A set of data contains 200 elements. How do you find the median of the data?
• What is the variance of a binomial distribution for which n = 75 and p = 0.20?
• Given 9 starting batters on a baseball team, how many batting orders are possible if the shortstop must bat first and the right fielder must bat fourth?
• What is the value of a? P(X≥a)=0.5
• Can someone help me answer this question?
• If you roll a die three times, how many different sequences are possible?
• What does an R-Squared value indicate about a linear regression?
• On a spinner, #P(3) = 2/5# and the #P(4) = 3/8#, what is the probability of getting 3 or 4?
• What is the z-score of sample X, if #n = 81, mu= 43, St. Dev. =90, and E[X] =57#?
• Suppose that the temperature is normally distributed with expectation 50℃ and variance 4℃.What is the probability that the temperature T will be between 48℃ and 53℃?What is the probability that T≥52℃?
• How can you verify #sinx/(sinx+cosx)=(cotx-1)/(cotx+1)# by only manipulating the left side?
• How do you identify the point (x,y) on the unit circle that corresponds to t=-11pi/4?
• How do you use the half angle formulas to simplify the expression #-sqrt((1-cos8x)/(1+cos8x))#?
• How do you solve this trigonometric equation?
• How do you write #2 +4i# in trigonometric form?
• A triangle has sides A, B, and C. Sides A and B have lengths of 4 and 3, respectively. The angle between A and C is #(pi)/3# and the angle between B and C is # (pi)/4#. What is the area of the triangle?
• If #A = <5 ,2 ,8 >#, #B = <2 ,5 ,6 ># and #C=A-B#, what is the angle between A and C?
• How do you solve (2sinx+1)(sinx-1)=0?
• How do you prove # (cosA - cotA) / ( 1 - sinA) = - cotA#?
• How do you sketch y=2sinx when x is between 0 and 360?
• What is an intransitive complete verb?
• Is "Let's don't." grammatically correct?
• What is the difference between a metaphor and a symbol?
• What is the future tense of "lay"? I am using it in a line of a poem.
• Is "fur coat" a compound noun? For example, "First, its husky build and heavy fur coat allowed the Samoyed to sand changes in temperature."
• What are some examples of antithesis?
• What does this aphorism mean: "the doors of wisdom are never shut."? It is by Benjamin Franklin. What message was Franklin trying to send to the 18th century Americans when he wrote it?
• How can you rewrite the following sentence from the first-person perspective of someone in the sentence?: They bought a coat and gave it to the homeless man on the corner.
• I want to write a counterargument in an argumentative essay, but I have a hard time "un"-proving the point I bring up from the other side of the argument. Should I pick a new point?
• What is the collective noun for whales?
• Why did Lincoln need the support of the border states?
• What proposal was included in Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton's financial plans in the 1790s?
• When did the first American combat troops arrive in Vietnam?
• Which Great Awakening preacher warned people that God would punish them if they did not change their ways?
• What are the advantages to Marshall's "broad" interpretation of the Constitution? What are its disadvantages?
• What act of U.S. expansion was the direct result of Matthew Perry's naval journey to Japan?
• How does the baby boom illustrates a break from Depression Era American life?
• Do you agree with Susan B. Anthony that women should receive equal pay for equal work?
• Under President Ronald Reagan, the United States had the largest peacetime military buildup in history. How was this a challenge to the Soviet Union?
• What was the first act that the Parliament passed in an attempt to raise revenue by taxing the American colonists?
• What other nations joined Germany in forming the Axis Powers?
• Which group has dominated Russia's politics throughout most of its history?
• What kind of relationship did the Soviet Union have with the United States in 1945?
• What does this logo stand for?
• How and why did Africans come to Latin America?
• How did the the Zionist movement lead to the creation of the State of Israel?
• How would you describe USA and Italy's intentions behind the terms of the Treaty of Versailles?
• Bolivia is one of two landlocked countries in South America. What is the other country?
• What inventions sped up communication beginning in the late 19th century?
• How were early factories powered and who created the first factory?

Get Started with Our Free Homework AI Now!

Struggling with homework? HIX Tutor is here to help! Get instant answers and step-by-step solutions—start your free trial today!

StudyMonkey

Your personal ai tutor.

Learn Smarter, Not Harder with AI

Introducing StudyMonkey, your AI-powered tutor .

StudyMonkey AI can tutor complex homework questions, enhance your essay writing and assess your work—all in seconds.

No more long all-nighters

24/7 solutions to questions you're stumped on and essays you procrastinated on.

No more stress and anxiety

Get all your assignments done with helpful answers in 10 seconds or less.

No more asking friends for help

StudyMonkey is your new smart bestie that will never ghost you.

No more staying after school

AI tutoring is available 24/7, on-demand when you need it most.

AI Tutor for any subject

American college testing (act), anthropology, advanced placement exams (ap exams), arabic language, archaeology, biochemistry, chartered financial analyst (cfa) exam, communications, computer science, certified public accountant (cpa) exam, cultural studies, cyber security, dental admission test (dat), discrete mathematics, earth science, elementary school, entrepreneurship, environmental science, essay writer, farsi (persian) language, fundamentals of engineering (fe) exam, gender studies, graduate management admission test (gmat), graduate record examination (gre), greek language, hebrew language, high school entrance exam, high school, human geography, human resources, international english language testing system (ielts), information technology, international relations, independent school entrance exam (isee), lesson planner, linear algebra, linguistics, law school admission test (lsat), machine learning, master's degree, medical college admission test (mcat), meteorology, microbiology, middle school, national council licensure examination (nclex), national merit scholarship qualifying test (nmsqt), number theory, organic chemistry, project management professional (pmp), political science, portuguese language, probability, project management, preliminary sat (psat), public policy, public relations, russian language, scholastic assessment test (sat), social sciences, secondary school admission test (ssat), sustainability, swahili language, test of english as a foreign language (toefl), trigonometry, turkish language, united states medical licensing examination (usmle), web development, step-by-step guidance 24/7.

Receive step-by-step guidance & homework help for any homework problem & any subject 24/7

Ask any question

StudyMonkey supports every subject and every level of education from 1st grade to masters level.

Get an answer

StudyMonkey will give you an answer in seconds—multiple choice questions, short answers, and even an essays are supported!

Review your history

See your past questions and answers so you can review for tests and improve your grades.

It's not cheating...

You're just learning smarter than everyone else

How Can StudyMonkey Help You?

Hear from our happy students.

"The AI tutor is available 24/7, making it a convenient and accessible resource for students who need help with their homework at any time."

"Overall, StudyMonkey is an excellent tool for students looking to improve their understanding of homework topics and boost their academic success."

Upgrade to StudyMonkey Premium!

Why not upgrade to StudyMonkey Premium and get access to all features?

Stack Exchange Network

Stack Exchange network consists of 183 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow , the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers.

Q&A for work

Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search.

"Can/may/will you help me with this?"

Which word to use when we ask for help?

Some conditions:

• We know that the person asked is able to do it.
• We don't know if the person asked is able to do it.
• word-choice
• modal-verbs

6 Answers 6

As waiwai993 answered, Can/May/Will have different meanings. However asking someone if they can help you usually implies that you would like their help, and it gives the person an opportunity to decline without being rude. Maybe they are able to help in theory, but can't right now because they are too busy. In that case they can say that they can't help. If they simply don't want to help they can just decline without a reason. So I would always use "Can you help me with this" or "Could you help me with this" unless I needed a more specific case (such as I KNOW that they CAN, but I am forcing to answer whether they WILL or not, or I know that they are ABLE, but maybe their mother won't let them*).

* Note: I think it's very unusual to use "May you help me" and would probably never say that under any circumstances, unless I was trying to be ironic.

I would actually offer a couple additional options:

Under condition 1 (that you know that the person is able to help, but you're unsure if they will):

Would you help me with this?

Under condition 2 (you're unsure if that person is able to help):

Could you help me with this?

These are similar in meaning to will and can respectively, but are a more polite way of asking. I would especially recommend these if you're in more formal setting, talking to strangers, etc.

• 2 +1 to "'Could' you help me with this?" –  JFW Commented Nov 11, 2010 at 8:06
• 1 No comment on the down vote? –  Dusty Commented Nov 12, 2010 at 15:17

Can you help me with this?

Technically, this asks if it is physically possible for the other person to help. However, it is commonly used to mean "Will you help me with this?"

May you help me with this?

This is equivalent to "Are you permitted to help me with this?"

Will you help me with this?

This is the one you probably want—it basically asks whether or not the other person is going to help.

• 4 "May you help me with this?" sounds very strange to my (British English) ears. –  Steve Melnikoff Commented Nov 11, 2010 at 12:56
• 1 same to my American English ears. Someone when asking me to do something said "May you upload the files now?" just sounds strange. but it's true, if I was working for a secret government base and I needed permission, then that could make sense. –  Claudiu Commented Nov 11, 2010 at 15:43
• 3 Yes: "May" contrasts with "Can" in the first person, and generations of children have been told off for saying "Can I" when grown-ups held that they should have been saying "May I". But in the second person, "May you" is very unusual. –  Colin Fine Commented Nov 11, 2010 at 18:08
• 3 @Colin Interestingly, it also contrasts with "Can" in the third person. E.g. "May Johnny come out to play?" vs. "Can Johnny come out to play". But I agree, in second person it's just odd. –  Dusty Commented Nov 11, 2010 at 23:00
• 2 You're right, and of course this is where "may you" often comes from: children have it drummed into them that they shouldn't say "can", so they avoid saying "can you". –  Colin Fine Commented Nov 12, 2010 at 13:06

As for me, I sometimes feel a bit shy talking to people, so I prefer polite variants like:

Can you please help me with...?

Can I ask you for help with...?

Or you can just say:

I need your help.

I don't have much experience in communication with English-speakers, but I think those variants can be used in different situations.

May implies that you are asking for permission. Can implies that you are questioning somebody's ability. Will implies that you are seeking an answer about the future.

– Can you lift this? – May we go to the mall? – Will you call me?

• 1 This is true in the contexts you exemplify, but in OP's context the auxiliaries can and will are taken as polite variants, equivalent to "please" –  StoneyB on hiatus Commented Nov 23, 2012 at 21:48

Why not ask etymology for some help here?

The word can comes from Proto-Germanic kunnan

to be mentally able, to have learnt

Can is about ability , skills, knowing how to do things, whereas the word may comes from Proto-Germanic root mag- , infinitive maganan , from Proto-Indo-European magh-

to be able, have power

May is about power , the position a person is in to grant or refuse another person permission to do something, says the Online Etymology dictionary.

Can I go to the bathroom?

– etymologically – is not really appropriate for asking permission as it means something like Do you think I know how to go to the bathroom? , which might sound rude , even! On the other hand,

May I go to the bathroom?

– etymologically again – means something like Would your highness allow me to go to the bathroom? and, in the classless world we live in (?) we are not really ready to your-highness anyone if we can avoid it! Well, little children cannot really avoid it for a question of stature and status, but, when you have grown up, using may is felt as humiliating , as if you were kneeling in front of someone.

Could I go to the bathroom?

represents a middle ground between rudeness and self-humiliation , which can satisfy both the speaker and the listener!

Using the modal auxiliary can in the conditional, 'unrealising' the present, making it hypothetical, dampens the shock. I am asking about objective conditions (do you think I know how to) but using the conditional instead of the present puts more emphasis on the listener, on their ability to assess the situation, which is a tacit acknowledgement of their authority.

• Why not ask etymology for some help here? Because it would be a fallacy: logicallyfallacious.com/tools/lp/Bo/LogicalFallacies/67/… –  user184130 Commented Aug 17, 2018 at 23:21
• @184130: how come you are not a registered user? Interesting anyway… –  user58319 Commented Sep 22, 2018 at 17:43
• I don't think it is fallacious: these links to the original meanings of the words,'can' and 'may', tenuous as they might have become, are still with us today! –  user58319 Commented Sep 22, 2018 at 18:30
• I realise the orginal post is about asking for help, and not asking permission! So my answer is only partly relevant –  user58319 Commented Sep 22, 2018 at 18:37

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged word-choice questions modal-verbs can-may or ask your own question .

• Featured on Meta
• Bringing clarity to status tag usage on meta sites
• Announcing a change to the data-dump process

Hot Network Questions

• Is there a way to prove ownership of church land?
• How can we know how good a TRNG is?
• Best approach to make lasagna fill pan
• How to go from Asia to America by ferry
• Investigate why packages are held back, and stop release upgrade
• Help identifying a board-to-wire power connector
• How can I play MechWarrior 2?
• In which town of Europe (Germany ?) were this 2 photos taken during WWII?
• Is reading sheet music difficult?
• Sum[] function not computing the sum
• Sub-/superscript size difference between newtxmath and txfonts
• Websites assume the wrong country after using a VPN
• Confusion about time dilation
• Swapping touch digitizer from one Android phone to another
• Does the average income in the US drop by $9,500 if you exclude the ten richest Americans?
• Visual assessment of scatterplots acceptable?
• Is there a way to read lawyers arguments in various trials?
• What's the benefit or drawback of being Small?
• help to grep a string from a site
• Breaker trips when plugging into wall outlet(receptacle) directly, but not when using extension
• Applying to faculty jobs in universities without a research group in your area
• How to clean a female disconnect connector
• Gravitational potential energy of a water column
• Where is this railroad track as seen in Rocky II during the training montage?

• Messages ({{ ::newMessages }})
• Transcripts and statements
• Shop cart ({{ cart.items.length }})
• Sign Out Sign in

English Language Centre / Study Zone / Level 330 — Lower Intermediate / Grammar Topics / Modals of Polite Request: Would you, Could you, Will you, Can you

Modals of Polite Request: Would you, Could you, Will you, Can you

Choose the best modal for each sentence..

Show all questions

•   ?     Would you please
•   ?     Would please you
•   ?     You could
•   ?     Could you please
•   ?     May you
•   ?     Could you
•   ?     Can / I'd be glad to
•   ?     Can / I be glad to
•   ?     Could / I would happy to
•   ?     you will
•   ?     could you
•   ?     you may
•   ?     you can / Of course
•   ?     Would you please / Yes, of course
•   ?     you will / Yes, certainly
•   ?     may you
•   ?     can you
•   ?     do you can
• Join E-News
• Staff login
• Visit UVic.ca
• UVic My page

Visit Registration

Tel 250-472-4747 | Email [email protected]

2024 © Continuing Studies at UVic Legal Notices | Sitemap

20 Polite Ways to Ask for Help in an Email (With Examples)

List of polite ways to ask for help in an email.

• Would you be able to assist me with this matter?
• I’m seeking your guidance on a particular issue and would appreciate your help.
• Could you kindly lend me your expertise on this subject?
• I find myself in need of some assistance and thought to reach out to you.
• Your support in resolving this issue would be highly valued.
• May I ask for your assistance regarding [specific issue]?
• I’m reaching out to you for guidance on [topic]; could you please help me?
• If it’s not too much trouble, could you offer your insights on this matter?
• Your expertise in [subject] would be invaluable; could I trouble you for some assistance?
• I’m facing a challenge with [task], and I was wondering if you could provide some assistance.
• Your assistance on this matter would be greatly appreciated.
• I hope it’s not an inconvenience, but could you please help me with [specific request]?
• I’m seeking your support in addressing [issue]; could you kindly assist me?
• Your guidance would be immensely helpful; could you spare a moment to assist me?
• I would be grateful if you could offer your assistance with [task].
• If you have a moment, I would appreciate your help with [specific concern].
• I’m in need of some help regarding [topic]; would you be willing to assist me?
• Your expertise in [subject] is well-known, and I would be grateful for your help.
• Could you please share your insights on [matter]; your assistance would be invaluable.
• If you have the time, I would be thankful for your support in resolving [issue].

1. Could you please help me?

Dear Michael,

I trust this email finds you well. I am currently working on [specific task] and find myself in need of some guidance. Could you please help me by sharing your insights on [relevant topic]? Your expertise in this area is highly regarded, and I believe your input will greatly contribute to the success of the project.

Thank you for considering my request. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Best regards, Robert

2. Can you help me with [specific request]?

Subject: Assistance Needed for [Project]

I hope this message reaches you in good spirits. I am reaching out to seek your support with [specific task or project]. I am confident in your ability to offer valuable assistance. Can you help me with [details of the request]? Your expertise in [relevant field] would be immensely beneficial.

I appreciate your time and consideration. Looking forward to your positive response.

Warm regards, Robert

3. Do you mind helping me with [particular task]?

Subject: Request for Assistance

I trust you are doing well. I am currently working on [specific task] and find myself in need of some assistance. Do you mind helping me with [details of the task]? Your expertise in [relevant area] would be invaluable in overcoming the challenges I am facing.

Thank you for considering my request. I look forward to your support.

4. If you’re not too busy, could you help me with [issue]?

Subject: Seeking Your Expertise

I hope this email finds you at a convenient time. I am currently dealing with [issue] and would greatly appreciate your support. If you’re not too busy, could you help me by providing insights or suggestions on how to address this matter? Your expertise is crucial, and I believe your input will make a significant difference.

5. I would really appreciate your help on [topic].

Subject: Assistance Needed: [Topic]

I trust this email finds you well. I am writing to seek your assistance on [specific topic]. I am aware of your proficiency in this area and believe that your guidance would be extremely beneficial. I would really appreciate your help in providing clarity on [details of the topic].

Thank you in advance for your time and expertise. Looking forward to your response.

6. I’m in need of your expertise for [particular task].

Subject: Request for Expertise

I hope this email reaches you in good health. I find myself facing a challenge with [specific task] and am in need of your expertise. I’m in need of your expertise to navigate through [details of the task]. Your insights will be instrumental in achieving a successful outcome.

Thank you for your time and consideration. I eagerly await your response.

7. If it’s not too much trouble, can you help me with [specific request]?

I trust you are well. I am currently working on [specific project] and would greatly appreciate your assistance. If it’s not too much trouble, can you help me with [details of the request]? Your support in this matter is invaluable, and I believe your input will enhance the quality of the project.

Thank you for your consideration. Looking forward to your positive response.

8. I would appreciate any help you can give me with [task].

Subject: Seeking Your Support

I hope this email finds you in good spirits. I am reaching out to seek your support with [specific task]. I would appreciate any help you can give me in [details of the task]. Your experience and insights would be of great assistance in overcoming the challenges I am currently facing.

Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to your positive response.

9. Please help me understand [complex topic].

Subject: Request for Clarification

I trust you are well. I am currently working on understanding [complex topic] and find myself in need of clarification. Please help me understand [details of the topic], as your insights would greatly contribute to my comprehension.

Thank you for considering my request. I look forward to learning from your expertise.

10. Could I pester you for some assistance with [specific issue]?

I hope this message finds you well. I am dealing with [specific issue] and am in need of some guidance. Could I pester you for some assistance in resolving [details of the issue]? Your expertise in [relevant field] would be highly valued.

Thank you for your time and consideration. Looking forward to your support.

Read More: Synonyms for “Collaborate” on a Resume (With Examples)

11. Seeking Your Guidance on [particular matter].

Subject: Request for Guidance

I trust this email finds you in good health. I am currently working on [specific matter] and would appreciate your guidance. Seeking your guidance on [details of the matter], as I believe your experience in [relevant field] will be crucial in navigating through the complexities.

Thank you for your time and expertise. Looking forward to your response.

12. In Need of Your Support for [specific task].

Subject: Assistance Needed

I hope this email finds you well. I am currently working on [specific task] and am seeking your support. In need of your support for [details of the task], as I believe your input will contribute significantly to the success of the project.

Thank you for considering my request. Eagerly awaiting your positive response.

13. Your Expertise Would be Invaluable for [topic].

I trust this message finds you in good spirits. I am reaching out to seek your expertise on [specific topic]. Your expertise would be invaluable for [details of the topic], and I am confident that your insights will greatly enhance the quality of my work.

Thank you for your time and consideration. Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

14. Could You Please Share Your Insights on [matter]?

Subject: Seeking Your Insights

I hope this email reaches you well. I am currently working on [particular matter] and would appreciate your insights. Could you please share your insights on [details of the matter]? Your perspective is highly valued, and I believe it will contribute to a well-rounded understanding of the issue.

Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to your response.

15. If You Have the Time, I Would Be Thankful for Your Support.

Subject: Request for Time and Support

I trust you are doing well. I am currently facing a challenge with [specific task] and am seeking your support. If you have the time, I would be thankful for your support in [details of the task]. Your time and expertise are highly appreciated.

Thank you for considering my request. Looking forward to your positive response.

16. Your Assistance on [specific matter] Would Be Greatly Appreciated.

I hope this email finds you in good health. I am dealing with [specific matter] and would greatly appreciate your assistance. Your assistance on [details of the matter] would be greatly appreciated, and I am confident that your expertise will provide valuable insights.

Thank you for your time and consideration. Eagerly awaiting your response.

17. I Hope It’s Not an Inconvenience, but Could You Please Help Me with [specific request]?

Subject: Seeking Your Assistance

I trust this email finds you well. I am currently working on [specific request] and hope it’s not an inconvenience to ask for your assistance. I hope it’s not an inconvenience, but could you please help me with [details of the request]? Your support is crucial, and I believe your input will contribute to the success of the project.

Thank you for your understanding. Looking forward to your positive response.

18. I’m Seeking Your Support in Addressing [issue].

Subject: Request for Support

I trust you are doing well. I am currently facing [issue] and am seeking your support. I’m seeking your support in addressing [details of the issue], as I believe your experience will be instrumental in finding a resolution.

19. Your Guidance Would Be Immensely Helpful; Could You Spare a Moment to Assist Me?

I hope this message finds you well. I am currently working on [specific task] and am in need of your guidance. Your guidance would be immensely helpful; could you spare a moment to assist me with [details of the task]? Your time and insights are highly valued.

Thank you for considering my request. Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

20. I Would Be Grateful If You Could Offer Your Assistance with [task].

Subject: Grateful for Your Assistance

I trust you are having a good day. I am currently working on [specific task] and would be grateful for your assistance. I would be grateful if you could offer your assistance with [details of the task]. Your expertise is highly respected, and I am confident that your support will lead to a successful outcome.

Thank you for your time and consideration. Eagerly awaiting your positive response.

Additional Considerations: Pros and Cons of Seeking Help via Email

• Written Documentation: Emails provide a written record of the request and the response, creating a clear trail for reference.
• Convenience: Emails allow individuals to respond at their convenience, providing flexibility for both the requester and the respondent.
• Formality: Email offers a formal and professional medium for seeking assistance, ensuring clarity in communication.
• Delayed Response: Depending on the recipient’s schedule, email responses may experience delays, impacting urgent matters.
• Lack of Personal Interaction: Email lacks the personal touch of face-to-face or phone communication, potentially leading to misunderstandings.
• Potential for Miscommunication: Written communication may lead to misinterpretation, emphasizing the need for clear and concise language.

Dariel Campbell is currently an English instructor at a university. She has experience in teaching and assessing English tests including TOEFL, IELTS, BULATS, FCE, CAE, and PTEG . With over a decade of teaching expertise, Dariel Campbell  utilizes his knowledge to develop English lessons for her audience on English Overview.

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Welcome to The English Overview, where we help to improve your language skills. Explore lessons on words, sentences, punctuation, and more. Enhance your English fluency and easily create powerful expressions. Come along on a journey to become excellent in language.

Privacy Policy

Latest Articles

The Best Software Solutions for Managing Patient Data and Billing in HME Services

September 7, 2024

Understanding Probiller Subscription Plans and Fees

From Kitchen Dance Parties to Spa-Like Showers: Unexpected Uses for In-Ceiling Speakers

© 2024 English Overview

Stack Exchange Network

Stack Exchange network consists of 183 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow , the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers.

Q&A for work

Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search.

"Could you please help me" vs "Could you help me please"

When asking for something politely which sentence is a better/proper choice?

Could you please help me?

Could you help me please?

• phrase-choice

• 3 Please Note: There may not be a definitive answer to this question, but I think it still has value. The answer may be complex, context-based, including non-verbal communication, relationship and situation between speaker and listener, etc. Each answer gives a different perspective. For this question, one may learn some good ideas by reading all the answers rather than any one.** –  CoolHandLouis Commented Feb 28, 2014 at 1:07

9 Answers 9

On my polite-o-meter , the two sentences score very close: "Could you help me, please?", "Could you please help me?". The former sounds more formal. Use whichever one you want and you'll be more polite than most people.

The following data is a very rough indication that "please-on-the-end" might be more common: 1

Google Search "Could you help me*please" : 40,000,000 results.

Google Search "Could you please help me*" : 11,000,000 results.

1 Google results may not be accurate at all. I will be reviewing this. Another answer suggests a different result.

Sentence structure has an impact on information emphasis:

Sentence length tends to require "please" to be moved to the beginning. Consider the following: "Could you help me find my light-brown work shoes that I just bought, please? " "Could you please help me find my light-brown work shoes that I just bought?" The latter introduces politeness earlier while also focusing the sentence on the important information.

Other answers in this thread provide great analyses on formality and urgency. But length-of-sentence can be an opposing force. While "please" tends to be more formal and polite at the end of sentences, a longer sentence may be more natural sounding with "please" moved closer to the beginning. For more information, see Google Search: sentence information, clarity, and focus.

How to learn all of this?

• There are a lot of great answers in this thread (I suggest you read them too!), but that can be overwhelming! Usage is highly dependent on context. Rather than trying to learn 1000 rules on usage, I suggest that you gain subtle usage skills naturally through observation and experience .

• 4 Google's result estimates aren't real data. They don't even try to make them accurate. I'm afraid your 40M and 11M numbers should be discarded rather than taken with a grain of salt. –  user230 Commented Feb 28, 2014 at 2:19

There are a lot of subtleties hidden in the different words and word orders mentioned here. Changing the place in the sentence of the word please changes its emphasis; roughly, the earlier the word comes in the sentence, the stronger the request for help. Notice RayB's point that putting please at the end of the sentence sounds more polite. This is because it's a bit less insistent.

Context is very important as well; a more insistent request for help can go with a more pressing need for it and not be impolite. If for example, a child came up to a stranger and said "Could you please help me? I'm lost." the child would probably be thought of as very well-mannered, keeping a cool head in a frightening situation. On the other hand, if a shopper asked a clerk "could you please help me?" instead of "could you help me, please?" it would typically convey a sense of irritation at having been made to wait too long. I say typically because one can always use tone of voice to change this.

Now, "would you help me, please" sounds bit less insistent to me than using could, I suppose because it's asking if one is willing to help rather than if one is able to. "Won't you help me" usually doesn't go with "please" since it is really asking if the person is unwilling to help even though he should. (Edit: I note the exception to this of "won't you pleeease, please help me" from the Beatles song mentioned in another answer. When you do use won't you please in this sense, it is particularly insistent. There's a flavor almost of begging in the song.)

A funny story comes to mind. I used to know a guy who had spent a number of years as a fisherman in Maine, and he told this story. One evening, he was in the boathouse with some of his friends, and the radio came on:

Jim? Hey, Phil, what's up? Not much. You doing anything right now? Nope, just sitting here with Joe and George. Well, could you stop out and pick me up, please? Sure, where are you? About three miles out, taking on water.

The reason it's funny is because the level of insistence for help was way less than the need for it.

• 3 +1 On this answer. I really like your analysis on context. And I'm sure you'll agree that even "Won't you please help me" expresses yet another sentiment exactly because they "don't go together" as you said. And that's a great story. The guy on the sinking boat uses the formal, cool-headed, non-insistent form of "please" because he is cool-headed and most likely has a great sense of perspective and humor about life. I learned much from your answer, thanks! –  CoolHandLouis Commented Feb 27, 2014 at 20:00
• 3 "roughly, the earlier the word comes in the sentence, the stronger the request for help" I don't think that's at all true. "Please could you help me?", "Could you please help me?" and "Could you help me please?" when spoken in a fairly neutral tone are all simple requests for help; when spoken with strong emphasis on "please", all can sound equally desperate. –  David Richerby Commented Feb 27, 2014 at 23:01
• 2 @David: Perhaps you missed "I say typically because one can always use tone of voice to change this." in my answer? (It is kind of buried in there.) I completely agree with you about the use of tone to vary the meaning here, and you have provided some useful elaborations on this point. However, I stand by my assertion that we also use word order to do the same. One doesn't preclude the other. –  BobRodes Commented Feb 28, 2014 at 15:10
• +1 on BobRodes positive response ("I completely agree with you..."). Good Answerists/Commenters model and encourage positive tone and civility for the community. –  CoolHandLouis Commented Feb 28, 2014 at 21:21

Politeness is not inherent in the grammar. Politeness is an attitude implied by the speaker and inferred by the hearer, and the two are not always aligned.

The choice of which grammatical construct to use will vary across cultures and sub-cultures. In South African English, for instance, "please" is very commonly placed at the beginning of a request, and because that placement is normal, the level of insistence discussed in other answers is reduced.

The politeness implied by a South African speaker might be misunderstood as insistence by some American hearers.

• +1 This is an excellent point. Such a simple question can lead to many "opinion" answers (and it's not easy to divide opinion from "fact"). –  CoolHandLouis Commented Feb 28, 2014 at 0:55

I personally think "Could you help me, please?" sounds more polite.

However, in this situation I would say "Would you mind helping me, please?". In my opinion it sounds friendlier to the person you're asking.

There are very good answers that discuss the significance of the position of please. Here, I only discuss:

some basic analysis using google's n-gram viewer and COCA (Corpus of Contemporary American English)

the shift with time of the preferred location of please (with a bonus link to song by the Beatles; credit for this link should go to Emilio Pisanty)

1. Basic Analysis using English Corpora

To answer questions like that, one could use Google's n-gram viewer. See here where I've compared three possibilities:

• please could you help me?
• could you help me please?
• could you please help me?

Although all of them sound good to me, books for English language learners seem to prefer the latter.

In the comments, Damkerng T reports that similar results are observed in COCA :

• could you please help me (6 hits)
• could you help me please (0 hits)
• could you help me , please (0 hits)
• please could you help me (0 hits)
• please , could you help me (4 hits)
• can you please help me (5 hits)
• can you help me , please (3 hits)
• can you help me please (1 hit)

And the corresponding search on Goggle's n-gram viewer yields similar results:

• please can you help me?
• can you help me please?
• can you please help me?

That is, occurrences of all the three forms can be found, with the latter being slightly more frequent.

Also in the comments, CoolHandLouis makes a number of points about the limitations of carrying out basic searches of English corpora:

"Could you please help me" may include results "could you please help me [subordinate clause]." That adds more results here.

"Could you help me, please?" requires context. In spoken language, context can comes from environment. Mom carries groceries & asks hubby "Could you help me, please?" But on Internet, questions contain context: "Could you help me with this sentence, please?" So "Could you help me, please?" would be under-represented in written text and some types of corpus searches.

2. Preferred Location of the Courtesy Marker please

Fátima María Faya-Cerqueiro observes in New Trends and Methodologies in Applied English Language Research that the preferred position of please has shifted with time:

"The preferred position of please by the nineteenh century was clause-initial, as it is customary for imperative constructions [...] Final position was a later development."

She argues that the courtesy marker please originated from the imperative expression be pleased to , that evolved into the imperative expression please to , and finally became the courtesy marker please .

This origin could also explain the preferred location of please in questions. One could argue that the question corresponding to the following imperative construct:

• Be pleased to help me
• Are you pleased to help me?

or more politely:

• Would you be pleased to help me?

which is closer to the Beatles :

• Won't you please please help me?

• 3 To my surprise, I found a similar conclusion in COCA, could you please help me : 6 hits, could you help me please : 0 hit, could you help me , please : 0 hit, please could you help me : 0 hit, please , could you help me : 4 hits, can you please help me : 5 hits, can you help me , please : 3 hits, can you help me please : 1 hit. –  Damkerng T. Commented Feb 27, 2014 at 14:35
• 2 @DamkerngT - The surprise may be explained as "Could you help me, please?" is more often natural spoken dialog, and under-represented in written form. Also, "Could you please help me" may include extended forms like "Could you please help me with the following question?" –  CoolHandLouis Commented Feb 27, 2014 at 17:32
• The Beatles were extra polite: "Won't you please, please help me?" : ) –  CoolHandLouis Commented Feb 27, 2014 at 19:16
• 1 I've removed this info from my answer since its more appropriately addressed here in a comment. (1) "Could you please help me" may include results "could you please help me [subordinate clause]." That adds more results here. (2) "Could you help me, please?" requires context. In spoken language, context can comes from environment. Mom carries groceries & asks hubby "Could you help me, please?" But on Internet, questions contain context: "Could you help me with this sentence, please?" So "Could you help me, please?" would be under-represented in written text and some types of corpus searches. –  CoolHandLouis Commented Feb 28, 2014 at 0:37
• I might suggest a switch: that primary data is the main answer and historical information is secondary answer. –  CoolHandLouis Commented Feb 28, 2014 at 0:50

As I see it, where the please is in the sentence actually changes its meaning, ranging from a polite request to a near supplication.

• could you help me, please? -> polite request
• could you please help me? -> added notion of some kind of urgency (and potentially exasperation: this is typically an form you could see when asking for the second time, after having asked with the first form, e.g. could you help me, please? , and later on if you got no answer, could you please help me? )
• please, could you help me? -> there's a huge emphasis on the please turning the question nearly into a supplication for help.

Comparing the occurrences of all three forms might give the right result only if we assume they have the same meaning, which I believe they don't.

Anyway, that's my 2c as a foreigner who learned English more in its strict older written form than in its day to day form.

• 1 It's possible to put "please" at the start of the sentence without being at all insistent. Tone of voice is much more significant than the position of "please" in the sentence. –  David Richerby Commented Feb 27, 2014 at 23:05
• 1 +1 on @DavidRicherby's comment. Sentence structure may have some effect, but tone and other "non-verbal" (i.e. "non-lexical" which includes tone, volume, body language) language elements carries the bulk of the emotional/attitude informmation content. DavidR, btw, I didn't mean to offend in my comment to you under BobRodes' answer. –  CoolHandLouis Commented Feb 28, 2014 at 19:40
• @CoolHandLouis No offence taken! –  David Richerby Commented Feb 28, 2014 at 22:15

I am from the US, and when I went to England I was surprised to hear people say "Please would you ..." because it actually sounded rather like begging, and I was an outsider with low status. When my Guru said it though, I thought: well, that must be the most correct way - put the politeness right at the start. English allows a multitude of forms and words, with subtle nuances that come and go in varying places over time. Sometimes errors creep in, like people saying "jealous" when they mean "envious" (they are opposites). I guess there is no substitute for paying close attention and giving people the benefit of the doubt. (Or is that a subtle idiomatic phrase?)

Both are possible.

Could you help me, please? (A comma should be put before 'please')

We can leave out 'please'. Could you please help me.

We can also use would you mind + ing-form) and would you like + to-infinitive

[ We can ask someone to do something by saying could you ... ]

In my opinion, I would say:

Please, could you help?

Although it is human nature and in the English language to soften our words with adverbs in order to appear more polite, it's up to you how you would like to use it.

Remember, you can always exercise your right to use an adverb.

• Thank you for your participation. The quality of this answer could be improved by using (1) better English grammar and punctuation, and (2) providing more detail and examples. –  CoolHandLouis Commented Feb 27, 2014 at 21:27

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for browse other questions tagged phrase-choice ..

• Featured on Meta
• Bringing clarity to status tag usage on meta sites
• Announcing a change to the data-dump process

Hot Network Questions

• Why is this bolt's thread the way it is?
• What is the optimal number of function evaluations?
• A seven letter *
• Sub-/superscript size difference between newtxmath and txfonts
• Help identifying a board-to-wire power connector
• Should Euler be credited with Prime Number Theorem?
• Investigate why packages are held back, and stop release upgrade
• Gravitational potential energy of a water column
• What other crewed spacecraft returned uncrewed before Starliner Boe-CFT?
• Generate all the free polyominoes who's width and height is no larger than 8
• Is there a way to read lawyers arguments in various trials?
• Approximations for a Fibonacci-Like Sequence
• Is this host and 'parasite' interaction feasible?
• How can we know how good a TRNG is?
• Cardinality of connected LOTS
• How do you tip cash when you don't have proper denomination or no cash at all?
• No displayport over USBC with lenovo ideapad gaming 3 (15IHU6)
• Romeo & Juliet laws and age of consent laws
• How to truncate text in latex?
• Websites assume the wrong country after using a VPN
• Does Psalm 127:2 promote laidback attitude towards hard work?
• Simulate Minecraft Redstone | Where to start?
• Replacing jockey wheels on Shimano Deore rear derailleur
• What would be a good weapon to use with size changing spell

Choose Your Test

• Search Blogs By Category
• College Admissions
• AP and IB Exams
• GPA and Coursework

How to Do Homework: 15 Expert Tips and Tricks

Coursework/GPA

Everyone struggles with homework sometimes, but if getting your homework done has become a chronic issue for you, then you may need a little extra help. That’s why we’ve written this article all about how to do homework. Once you’re finished reading it, you’ll know how to do homework (and have tons of new ways to motivate yourself to do homework)!

We’ve broken this article down into a few major sections. You’ll find:

• A diagnostic test to help you figure out why you’re struggling with homework
• A discussion of the four major homework problems students face, along with expert tips for addressing them
• A bonus section with tips for how to do homework fast

By the end of this article, you’ll be prepared to tackle whatever homework assignments your teachers throw at you .

So let’s get started!

How to Do Homework: Figure Out Your Struggles 

Sometimes it feels like everything is standing between you and getting your homework done. But the truth is, most people only have one or two major roadblocks that are keeping them from getting their homework done well and on time. 

The best way to figure out how to get motivated to do homework starts with pinpointing the issues that are affecting your ability to get your assignments done. That’s why we’ve developed a short quiz to help you identify the areas where you’re struggling. 

Take the quiz below and record your answers on your phone or on a scrap piece of paper. Keep in mind there are no wrong answers! 

1. You’ve just been assigned an essay in your English class that’s due at the end of the week. What’s the first thing you do?

A. Keep it in mind, even though you won’t start it until the day before it’s due  B. Open up your planner. You’ve got to figure out when you’ll write your paper since you have band practice, a speech tournament, and your little sister’s dance recital this week, too.  C. Groan out loud. Another essay? You could barely get yourself to write the last one!  D. Start thinking about your essay topic, which makes you think about your art project that’s due the same day, which reminds you that your favorite artist might have just posted to Instagram...so you better check your feed right now. 

2. Your mom asked you to pick up your room before she gets home from work. You’ve just gotten home from school. You decide you’ll tackle your chores: 

A. Five minutes before your mom walks through the front door. As long as it gets done, who cares when you start?  B. As soon as you get home from your shift at the local grocery store.  C. After you give yourself a 15-minute pep talk about how you need to get to work.  D. You won’t get it done. Between texts from your friends, trying to watch your favorite Netflix show, and playing with your dog, you just lost track of time! 

3. You’ve signed up to wash dogs at the Humane Society to help earn money for your senior class trip. You: 

A. Show up ten minutes late. You put off leaving your house until the last minute, then got stuck in unexpected traffic on the way to the shelter.  B. Have to call and cancel at the last minute. You forgot you’d already agreed to babysit your cousin and bake cupcakes for tomorrow’s bake sale.  C. Actually arrive fifteen minutes early with extra brushes and bandanas you picked up at the store. You’re passionate about animals, so you’re excited to help out! D. Show up on time, but only get three dogs washed. You couldn’t help it: you just kept getting distracted by how cute they were!

4. You have an hour of downtime, so you decide you’re going to watch an episode of The Great British Baking Show. You: 

A. Scroll through your social media feeds for twenty minutes before hitting play, which means you’re not able to finish the whole episode. Ugh! You really wanted to see who was sent home!  B. Watch fifteen minutes until you remember you’re supposed to pick up your sister from band practice before heading to your part-time job. No GBBO for you!  C. You finish one episode, then decide to watch another even though you’ve got SAT studying to do. It’s just more fun to watch people make scones.  D. Start the episode, but only catch bits and pieces of it because you’re reading Twitter, cleaning out your backpack, and eating a snack at the same time.

5. Your teacher asks you to stay after class because you’ve missed turning in two homework assignments in a row. When she asks you what’s wrong, you say: 

A. You planned to do your assignments during lunch, but you ran out of time. You decided it would be better to turn in nothing at all than submit unfinished work.  B. You really wanted to get the assignments done, but between your extracurriculars, family commitments, and your part-time job, your homework fell through the cracks.  C. You have a hard time psyching yourself to tackle the assignments. You just can’t seem to find the motivation to work on them once you get home.  D. You tried to do them, but you had a hard time focusing. By the time you realized you hadn’t gotten anything done, it was already time to turn them in. 

Like we said earlier, there are no right or wrong answers to this quiz (though your results will be better if you answered as honestly as possible). Here’s how your answers break down: 

• If your answers were mostly As, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is procrastination. 
• If your answers were mostly Bs, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is time management. 
• If your answers were mostly Cs, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is motivation. 
• If your answers were mostly Ds, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is getting distracted. 

Now that you’ve identified why you’re having a hard time getting your homework done, we can help you figure out how to fix it! Scroll down to find your core problem area to learn more about how you can start to address it. 

And one more thing: you’re really struggling with homework, it’s a good idea to read through every section below. You may find some additional tips that will help make homework less intimidating. 

How to Do Homework When You’re a Procrastinator  

Merriam Webster defines “procrastinate” as “to put off intentionally and habitually.” In other words, procrastination is when you choose to do something at the last minute on a regular basis. If you’ve ever found yourself pulling an all-nighter, trying to finish an assignment between periods, or sprinting to turn in a paper minutes before a deadline, you’ve experienced the effects of procrastination. 

If you’re a chronic procrastinator, you’re in good company. In fact, one study found that 70% to 95% of undergraduate students procrastinate when it comes to doing their homework. Unfortunately, procrastination can negatively impact your grades. Researchers have found that procrastination can lower your grade on an assignment by as much as five points ...which might not sound serious until you realize that can mean the difference between a B- and a C+. 

Procrastination can also negatively affect your health by increasing your stress levels , which can lead to other health conditions like insomnia, a weakened immune system, and even heart conditions. Getting a handle on procrastination can not only improve your grades, it can make you feel better, too! 

The big thing to understand about procrastination is that it’s not the result of laziness. Laziness is defined as being “disinclined to activity or exertion.” In other words, being lazy is all about doing nothing. But a s this Psychology Today article explains , procrastinators don’t put things off because they don’t want to work. Instead, procrastinators tend to postpone tasks they don’t want to do in favor of tasks that they perceive as either more important or more fun. Put another way, procrastinators want to do things...as long as it’s not their homework! 

3 Tips f or Conquering Procrastination 

Because putting off doing homework is a common problem, there are lots of good tactics for addressing procrastination. Keep reading for our three expert tips that will get your homework habits back on track in no time. 

#1: Create a Reward System

Like we mentioned earlier, procrastination happens when you prioritize other activities over getting your homework done. Many times, this happens because homework...well, just isn’t enjoyable. But you can add some fun back into the process by rewarding yourself for getting your work done. 

Here’s what we mean: let’s say you decide that every time you get your homework done before the day it’s due, you’ll give yourself a point. For every five points you earn, you’ll treat yourself to your favorite dessert: a chocolate cupcake! Now you have an extra (delicious!) incentive to motivate you to leave procrastination in the dust. 

If you’re not into cupcakes, don’t worry. Your reward can be anything that motivates you . Maybe it’s hanging out with your best friend or an extra ten minutes of video game time. As long as you’re choosing something that makes homework worth doing, you’ll be successful. 

#2: Have a Homework Accountability Partner 

If you’re having trouble getting yourself to start your homework ahead of time, it may be a good idea to call in reinforcements . Find a friend or classmate you can trust and explain to them that you’re trying to change your homework habits. Ask them if they’d be willing to text you to make sure you’re doing your homework and check in with you once a week to see if you’re meeting your anti-procrastination goals. 

Sharing your goals can make them feel more real, and an accountability partner can help hold you responsible for your decisions. For example, let’s say you’re tempted to put off your science lab write-up until the morning before it’s due. But you know that your accountability partner is going to text you about it tomorrow...and you don’t want to fess up that you haven’t started your assignment. A homework accountability partner can give you the extra support and incentive you need to keep your homework habits on track. 

#3: Create Your Own Due Dates 

If you’re a life-long procrastinator, you might find that changing the habit is harder than you expected. In that case, you might try using procrastination to your advantage! If you just can’t seem to stop doing your work at the last minute, try setting your own due dates for assignments that range from a day to a week before the assignment is actually due. 

Here’s what we mean. Let’s say you have a math worksheet that’s been assigned on Tuesday and is due on Friday. In your planner, you can write down the due date as Thursday instead. You may still put off your homework assignment until the last minute...but in this case, the “last minute” is a day before the assignment’s real due date . This little hack can trick your procrastination-addicted brain into planning ahead! 

If you feel like Kevin Hart in this meme, then our tips for doing homework when you're busy are for you. 

How to Do Homework When You’re too Busy

If you’re aiming to go to a top-tier college , you’re going to have a full plate. Because college admissions is getting more competitive, it’s important that you’re maintaining your grades , studying hard for your standardized tests , and participating in extracurriculars so your application stands out. A packed schedule can get even more hectic once you add family obligations or a part-time job to the mix. 

If you feel like you’re being pulled in a million directions at once, you’re not alone. Recent research has found that stress—and more severe stress-related conditions like anxiety and depression— are a major problem for high school students . In fact, one study from the American Psychological Association found that during the school year, students’ stress levels are higher than those of the adults around them. 

For students, homework is a major contributor to their overall stress levels . Many high schoolers have multiple hours of homework every night , and figuring out how to fit it into an already-packed schedule can seem impossible. 

3 Tips for Fitting Homework Into Your Busy Schedule

While it might feel like you have literally no time left in your schedule, there are still ways to make sure you’re able to get your homework done and meet your other commitments. Here are our expert homework tips for even the busiest of students. 

#1: Make a Prioritized To-Do List 

You probably already have a to-do list to keep yourself on track. The next step is to prioritize the items on your to-do list so you can see what items need your attention right away. 

Here’s how it works: at the beginning of each day, sit down and make a list of all the items you need to get done before you go to bed. This includes your homework, but it should also take into account any practices, chores, events, or job shifts you may have. Once you get everything listed out, it’s time to prioritize them using the labels A, B, and C. Here’s what those labels mean:

• A Tasks : tasks that have to get done—like showing up at work or turning in an assignment—get an A. 
• B Tasks : these are tasks that you would like to get done by the end of the day but aren’t as time sensitive. For example, studying for a test you have next week could be a B-level task. It’s still important, but it doesn’t have to be done right away.
• C Tasks: these are tasks that aren’t very important and/or have no real consequences if you don’t get them done immediately. For instance, if you’re hoping to clean out your closet but it’s not an assigned chore from your parents, you could label that to-do item with a C.

Prioritizing your to-do list helps you visualize which items need your immediate attention, and which items you can leave for later. A prioritized to-do list ensures that you’re spending your time efficiently and effectively, which helps you make room in your schedule for homework. So even though you might really want to start making decorations for Homecoming (a B task), you’ll know that finishing your reading log (an A task) is more important. 

#2: Use a Planner With Time Labels

Your planner is probably packed with notes, events, and assignments already. (And if you’re not using a planner, it’s time to start!) But planners can do more for you than just remind you when an assignment is due. If you’re using a planner with time labels, it can help you visualize how you need to spend your day.

A planner with time labels breaks your day down into chunks, and you assign tasks to each chunk of time. For example, you can make a note of your class schedule with assignments, block out time to study, and make sure you know when you need to be at practice. Once you know which tasks take priority, you can add them to any empty spaces in your day. 

Planning out how you spend your time not only helps you use it wisely, it can help you feel less overwhelmed, too . We’re big fans of planners that include a task list ( like this one ) or have room for notes ( like this one ). 

#3: Set Reminders on Your Phone 

If you need a little extra nudge to make sure you’re getting your homework done on time, it’s a good idea to set some reminders on your phone. You don’t need a fancy app, either. You can use your alarm app to have it go off at specific times throughout the day to remind you to do your homework. This works especially well if you have a set homework time scheduled. So if you’ve decided you’re doing homework at 6:00 pm, you can set an alarm to remind you to bust out your books and get to work. 

If you use your phone as your planner, you may have the option to add alerts, emails, or notifications to scheduled events . Many calendar apps, including the one that comes with your phone, have built-in reminders that you can customize to meet your needs. So if you block off time to do your homework from 4:30 to 6:00 pm, you can set a reminder that will pop up on your phone when it’s time to get started. 

This dog isn't judging your lack of motivation...but your teacher might. Keep reading for tips to help you motivate yourself to do your homework.

How to Do Homework When You’re Unmotivated 

At first glance, it may seem like procrastination and being unmotivated are the same thing. After all, both of these issues usually result in you putting off your homework until the very last minute. 

But there’s one key difference: many procrastinators are working, they’re just prioritizing work differently. They know they’re going to start their homework...they’re just going to do it later. 

Conversely, people who are unmotivated to do homework just can’t find the willpower to tackle their assignments. Procrastinators know they’ll at least attempt the homework at the last minute, whereas people who are unmotivated struggle with convincing themselves to do it at a ll. For procrastinators, the stress comes from the inevitable time crunch. For unmotivated people, the stress comes from trying to convince themselves to do something they don’t want to do in the first place. 

Here are some common reasons students are unmotivated in doing homework : 

• Assignments are too easy, too hard, or seemingly pointless 
• Students aren’t interested in (or passionate about) the subject matter
• Students are intimidated by the work and/or feels like they don’t understand the assignment 
• Homework isn’t fun, and students would rather spend their time on things that they enjoy 

To sum it up: people who lack motivation to do their homework are more likely to not do it at all, or to spend more time worrying about doing their homework than...well, actually doing it.

3 Tips for How to Get Motivated to Do Homework

The key to getting homework done when you’re unmotivated is to figure out what does motivate you, then apply those things to homework. It sounds tricky...but it’s pretty simple once you get the hang of it! Here are our three expert tips for motivating yourself to do your homework. 

#1: Use Incremental Incentives

When you’re not motivated, it’s important to give yourself small rewards to stay focused on finishing the task at hand. The trick is to keep the incentives small and to reward yourself often. For example, maybe you’re reading a good book in your free time. For every ten minutes you spend on your homework, you get to read five pages of your book. Like we mentioned earlier, make sure you’re choosing a reward that works for you! 

So why does this technique work? Using small rewards more often allows you to experience small wins for getting your work done. Every time you make it to one of your tiny reward points, you get to celebrate your success, which gives your brain a boost of dopamine . Dopamine helps you stay motivated and also creates a feeling of satisfaction when you complete your homework !  

#2: Form a Homework Group 

If you’re having trouble motivating yourself, it’s okay to turn to others for support. Creating a homework group can help with this. Bring together a group of your friends or classmates, and pick one time a week where you meet and work on homework together. You don’t have to be in the same class, or even taking the same subjects— the goal is to encourage one another to start (and finish!) your assignments. 

Another added benefit of a homework group is that you can help one another if you’re struggling to understand the material covered in your classes. This is especially helpful if your lack of motivation comes from being intimidated by your assignments. Asking your friends for help may feel less scary than talking to your teacher...and once you get a handle on the material, your homework may become less frightening, too. 

#3: Change Up Your Environment 

If you find that you’re totally unmotivated, it may help if you find a new place to do your homework. For example, if you’ve been struggling to get your homework done at home, try spending an extra hour in the library after school instead. The change of scenery can limit your distractions and give you the energy you need to get your work done. 

If you’re stuck doing homework at home, you can still use this tip. For instance, maybe you’ve always done your homework sitting on your bed. Try relocating somewhere else, like your kitchen table, for a few weeks. You may find that setting up a new “homework spot” in your house gives you a motivational lift and helps you get your work done. 

Social media can be a huge problem when it comes to doing homework. We have advice for helping you unplug and regain focus.

How to Do Homework When You’re Easily Distracted

We live in an always-on world, and there are tons of things clamoring for our attention. From friends and family to pop culture and social media, it seems like there’s always something (or someone!) distracting us from the things we need to do.

The 24/7 world we live in has affected our ability to focus on tasks for prolonged periods of time. Research has shown that over the past decade, an average person’s attention span has gone from 12 seconds to eight seconds . And when we do lose focus, i t takes people a long time to get back on task . One study found that it can take as long as 23 minutes to get back to work once we’ve been distracte d. No wonder it can take hours to get your homework done! 

3 Tips to Improve Your Focus

If you have a hard time focusing when you’re doing your homework, it’s a good idea to try and eliminate as many distractions as possible. Here are three expert tips for blocking out the noise so you can focus on getting your homework done. 

#1: Create a Distraction-Free Environment

Pick a place where you’ll do your homework every day, and make it as distraction-free as possible. Try to find a location where there won’t be tons of noise, and limit your access to screens while you’re doing your homework. Put together a focus-oriented playlist (or choose one on your favorite streaming service), and put your headphones on while you work. 

You may find that other people, like your friends and family, are your biggest distraction. If that’s the case, try setting up some homework boundaries. Let them know when you’ll be working on homework every day, and ask them if they’ll help you keep a quiet environment. They’ll be happy to lend a hand! 

#2: Limit Your Access to Technology 

We know, we know...this tip isn’t fun, but it does work. For homework that doesn’t require a computer, like handouts or worksheets, it’s best to put all your technology away . Turn off your television, put your phone and laptop in your backpack, and silence notifications on any wearable tech you may be sporting. If you listen to music while you work, that’s fine...but make sure you have a playlist set up so you’re not shuffling through songs once you get started on your homework. 

If your homework requires your laptop or tablet, it can be harder to limit your access to distractions. But it’s not impossible! T here are apps you can download that will block certain websites while you’re working so that you’re not tempted to scroll through Twitter or check your Facebook feed. Silence notifications and text messages on your computer, and don’t open your email account unless you absolutely have to. And if you don’t need access to the internet to complete your assignments, turn off your WiFi. Cutting out the online chatter is a great way to make sure you’re getting your homework done. 

#3: Set a Timer (the Pomodoro Technique)

Have you ever heard of the Pomodoro technique ? It’s a productivity hack that uses a timer to help you focus!

Here’s how it works: first, set a timer for 25 minutes. This is going to be your work time. During this 25 minutes, all you can do is work on whatever homework assignment you have in front of you. No email, no text messaging, no phone calls—just homework. When that timer goes off, you get to take a 5 minute break. Every time you go through one of these cycles, it’s called a “pomodoro.” For every four pomodoros you complete, you can take a longer break of 15 to 30 minutes.

The pomodoro technique works through a combination of boundary setting and rewards. First, it gives you a finite amount of time to focus, so you know that you only have to work really hard for 25 minutes. Once you’ve done that, you’re rewarded with a short break where you can do whatever you want. Additionally, tracking how many pomodoros you complete can help you see how long you’re really working on your homework. (Once you start using our focus tips, you may find it doesn’t take as long as you thought!)

Two Bonus Tips for How to Do Homework Fast

Even if you’re doing everything right, there will be times when you just need to get your homework done as fast as possible. (Why do teachers always have projects due in the same week? The world may never know.)

The problem with speeding through homework is that it’s easy to make mistakes. While turning in an assignment is always better than not submitting anything at all, you want to make sure that you’re not compromising quality for speed. Simply put, the goal is to get your homework done quickly and still make a good grade on the assignment! 

Here are our two bonus tips for getting a decent grade on your homework assignments , even when you’re in a time crunch. 

#1: Do the Easy Parts First 

This is especially true if you’re working on a handout with multiple questions. Before you start working on the assignment, read through all the questions and problems. As you do, make a mark beside the questions you think are “easy” to answer . 

Once you’ve finished going through the whole assignment, you can answer these questions first. Getting the easy questions out of the way as quickly as possible lets you spend more time on the trickier portions of your homework, which will maximize your assignment grade. 

(Quick note: this is also a good strategy to use on timed assignments and tests, like the SAT and the ACT !) 

#2: Pay Attention in Class 

Homework gets a lot easier when you’re actively learning the material. Teachers aren’t giving you homework because they’re mean or trying to ruin your weekend... it’s because they want you to really understand the course material. Homework is designed to reinforce what you’re already learning in class so you’ll be ready to tackle harder concepts later.

When you pay attention in class, ask questions, and take good notes, you’re absorbing the information you’ll need to succeed on your homework assignments. (You’re stuck in class anyway, so you might as well make the most of it!) Not only will paying attention in class make your homework less confusing, it will also help it go much faster, too.

What’s Next?

If you’re looking to improve your productivity beyond homework, a good place to begin is with time management. After all, we only have so much time in a day...so it’s important to get the most out of it! To get you started, check out this list of the 12 best time management techniques that you can start using today.

You may have read this article because homework struggles have been affecting your GPA. Now that you’re on the path to homework success, it’s time to start being proactive about raising your grades. This article teaches you everything you need to know about raising your GPA so you can

Now you know how to get motivated to do homework...but what about your study habits? Studying is just as critical to getting good grades, and ultimately getting into a good college . We can teach you how to study bette r in high school. (We’ve also got tons of resources to help you study for your ACT and SAT exams , too!)

These recommendations are based solely on our knowledge and experience. If you purchase an item through one of our links, PrepScholar may receive a commission.

Trending Now

How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League

How to Get a Perfect 4.0 GPA

How to Write an Amazing College Essay

What Exactly Are Colleges Looking For?

ACT vs. SAT: Which Test Should You Take?

When should you take the SAT or ACT?

Get Your Free

Find Your Target SAT Score

Free Complete Official SAT Practice Tests

How to Get a Perfect SAT Score, by an Expert Full Scorer

Score 800 on SAT Math

Score 800 on SAT Reading and Writing

How to Improve Your Low SAT Score

Score 600 on SAT Math

Score 600 on SAT Reading and Writing

Find Your Target ACT Score

Complete Official Free ACT Practice Tests

How to Get a Perfect ACT Score, by a 36 Full Scorer

Get a 36 on ACT English

Get a 36 on ACT Math

Get a 36 on ACT Reading

Get a 36 on ACT Science

How to Improve Your Low ACT Score

Get a 24 on ACT English

Get a 24 on ACT Math

Get a 24 on ACT Reading

Get a 24 on ACT Science

Stay Informed

Get the latest articles and test prep tips!

Ashley Sufflé Robinson has a Ph.D. in 19th Century English Literature. As a content writer for PrepScholar, Ashley is passionate about giving college-bound students the in-depth information they need to get into the school of their dreams.

Ask a Question Below

Have any questions about this article or other topics? Ask below and we'll reply!

Are you seeking one-on-one college counseling and/or essay support? Limited spots are now available. Click here to learn more.

9 Best Homework Help Websites

July 22, 2023

When I was in high school, resources for extra homework help weren’t exactly abundant. If you were struggling with a Shakespeare sonnet, you could always run to the bookstore and pick up a CliffNotes guide. SparkNotes was also gaining in popularity. But these early homework help resources had limited catalogs and were focused primarily on literature. Today, I imagine students suffer from the opposite problem—having too many choices when it comes to homework help websites. When the options are seemingly endless, knowing what to look out for takes on an added importance. Below, I’ll go through a list of 9 stand-out homework help websites and briefly discuss what makes them worth a visit.

Homework Help Websites – The Basics

The best homework help websites do more than just spit out an answer to that tricky math problem. They actually help students learn the material. Common features of homework help websites are educational videos and lectures, practice tests and quizzes, study tools like flashcards, and Q&As with experts. Many sites offer features that allow students to ask specific questions and get real-time feedback. There are also a number of services that offer one-on-one tutoring. Some homework help sites are free, while others require a paid subscription.

1) Khan Academy

Khan Academy is an amazing resource for students of all ages. It’s free, and it really is an academy—it offers full courses in a wide array of subjects, from pre-K math to high school physics. The courses consist of readings, video lectures, practice exercises, and quizzes. The breadth of material is impressive. In math alone, I see course listings for Algebra 1 and 2, Geometry, Trigonometry, Precalculus, Statistics, Multivariable calculus—you get the idea. Khan Academy also offers a wide variety of AP courses, state-specific curricula, test-prep programs, and life skill courses, like personal finance.

It’s important to note that Khan Academy isn’t a one-on-one tutoring platform. But because of their extensive library of material, the search function is especially powerful. Try it out. I did a search for argumentative essay help, and found a comprehensive guide to writing argumentative essays that was a part of a larger writing course.

Chegg is a paid homework help service. Unlike Khan Academy, Chegg isn’t built around specific courses. Rather, it offers a variety of homework-support resources. Among those resources are plagiarism and grammar checkers, a proofreading service, and a “math solver”, which allows students to enter a problem and get back both a solution and a detailed step-by-step explanation of how the problem was solved. Perhaps the most powerful tool Chegg offers is its “Expert Q&A” feature. This service allows students to take a picture of their homework problem, upload it to the site, and get a detailed response in return. Chegg’s emphasis on process and explanation make it a valuable educational resource for students—not just a way to get a quick answer.

Best Homework Help Websites (Continued)

Quizlet is a well-known and worthwhile study resource. It offers a variety of courses, and it also has an expert-response feature. But Quizlet’s best feature, in my option, is the flashcards tool. Students can create their own digital decks of cards and practice them on Quizlet—just like an old fashion set of index cards. I had a ton of success using Quizlet’s flash card feature to help me memorize words for my foreign language requirement in college. It’s a simple but powerful tool. Although often maligned as a learning method, rote rehearsal and spaced repetition are effective ways to encode information . Quizlet’s flashcard feature is a great way to put those techniques into practice.

4) Socratic

is an AI-powered homework support app that allows students to type or take pictures of questions and receive solutions right away. Since it works with AI, it relies on the web’s vast stores of accumulated knowledge—you’re not interacting with a human tutor. Nonetheless, I found it to be an extremely helpful tool. I tried it out first using a specific math problem. In just a few seconds I was provided with the solution and an explainer with relevant formulas, plus a graphic to help visualize the underlying logic. There were also suggested links to additional resources. For example, when I asked Socratic to explain how the German genitive case works, it suggested a YouTube video and a number of articles from blogs and other language-learning sites.

Since Socratic doesn’t feature courses or one-on-one tutoring support, I wouldn’t lean on it if I were really struggling in a particular class. But as a tool to check your work, make sure you’re on the right track, and become aware of additional resources, it’s worth a download.

5) Photomath

Photomath is, as you might have guessed, a site for math homework help. Like other homework help websites, Photomath allows students to take a picture of a problem and receive an instant, step-by-step solution. Included along with the solution is an explanation of relevant concepts and formulas, plus videos covering mathematical concepts. Photomath does offer a few basic courses, too. So if in addition to homework-specific help you want to brush up on the basics, they’ve got you covered in arithmetic, algebra, and calculus crash courses.

6) Studypool

Studypool is a paid homework support service that provides solutions to specific questions. Studypool offers support in all the major subjects, with a particular emphasis on science. Students can ask questions on everything from anatomy to physics. Like other services, students upload their exact questions or problems directly to the site. But Studypool’s payment model is a bit different: instead of paying for tutoring time or a monthly subscription, students pay for solutions to each question they submit. When a student submits a question, tutors submit bids to answer them. The student then can select which tutor/price option works best. After students select the price and tutor they want, they’re connected with the tutor and given the solution and explanation via messenger.

The draw of Studypool is that it gives students access to real (i.e., human) tutors who are experts in their field. The downside is that pricing isn’t transparent, and students pay per question.

7) College Info Geek

College Info Geek is the study-support website that I wish I knew about when I was in high school and college (they didn’t pay me to write that, I swear). The site focuses not on specific courses or questions, but on how to become a more effective learner. Here it’s all about “learning how to learn”—study tips, memorization and note-taking techniques, and much more. The articles are well-researched, clearly-communicated, practical, and comprehensive. For example, the article on how to improve your memory includes a breakdown of the different types of memory processes, memorization techniques, and even a discussion of how nutrition affects memory. College Info Geek is a great resource for everyone, not just high school and college students.

8) SparkNotes

Yes, Sparknotes made the list! The site offers lessons in a whole bunch of subjects—biology, chemistry, computer science, history, philosophy, math—but its specialty is literature. SparkNotes provides summaries and analyses of novels, short stories, poetry, and non-fiction, from The Canterbury Tales to Toni Morrison, Saul Bellow, and Junot Diaz. SparkNotes breaks down books into sub-sections and provides synopses and analyses for each section. There are also separate pages for character breakdowns, discussions of themes and motifs, and explanations of important quotes. I’d caution against using SparkNotes if you’re trying to “hack” a novel or poem and get simple answers about what it “means.” But as a way to supplement your own understanding and interpretation, it’s a great resource. Shmoop is also worth checking out for extra support in literature, poetry, mythology, and the history of literary movements.

9) Grammarly

I’m not sure if Grammarly is an obvious or unexpected choice to round out the list. Either way, it deserves a mention here. Grammarly is a writing tool. It checks and suggests corrections for incorrectly spelled words and misused punctuation. But Grammarly also scans and corrects for things like clarity and vocab usage. It flags sentences that are vague, or overly wordy, and alerts you if you’re using that flashy vocab word incorrectly. It even gives suggestions if it thinks your writing is a bit bland. I don’t see Grammarly as a crutch, but rather as a tool. It can help you master those pesky recurring grammar and usage issues. Always mix up effect and affect? Grammarly will continue to course correct until you’ve got it down yourself.

Homework Help Websites – Final Thoughts

None of the above homework help websites should be seen as a panacea. Each has benefits and drawbacks, strengths and weak points. The list is far from exhaustive. And the sites don’t have to be used in isolation. Try a few out, mix and match. College Info Geek is an excellent supplement to any study regimen. Socratic can be used as a tool to check answers for math homework, and at the same time you can use Grammarly to describe your problem to a tutor on Chegg. At their best, these sites are more than quick fixes to stubborn homework problems—they’re aids to genuine learning.

Additional Resources

You should also check out College Transitions’ “ High School Success ” blogs for help with a number of common high school assignments, including:

• Lord of the Flies Summary & Analysis 
• The Great Gatsby and The American Dream
• Analysis of Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” Speech
• Robert Frost’s Road Not Taken Analysis 
• High School Success

Dane Gebauer

Dane Gebauer is a writer and teacher living in Miami, FL. He received his MFA in fiction from Columbia University, and his writing has appeared in Complex Magazine and Sinking City Review .

• 2-Year Colleges
• ADHD/LD/Autism/Executive Functioning
• Application Strategies
• Best Colleges by Major
• Best Colleges by State
• Big Picture
• Career & Personality Assessment
• College Essay
• College Search/Knowledge
• College Success
• Costs & Financial Aid
• Data Visualizations
• Dental School Admissions
• Extracurricular Activities
• Graduate School Admissions
• High Schools
• Homeschool Resources
• Law School Admissions
• Medical School Admissions
• Navigating the Admissions Process
• Online Learning
• Outdoor Adventure
• Private High School Spotlight
• Research Programs
• Summer Program Spotlight
• Summer Programs
• Teacher Tools
• Test Prep Provider Spotlight

“Innovative and invaluable…use this book as your college lifeline.”

— Lynn O'Shaughnessy

Nationally Recognized College Expert

College Planning in Your Inbox

Join our information-packed monthly newsletter.

If you help me with my homework, I _______ you with your housework.

B. will help

C. would helped

D. will be helped

Select your answer:          

Next Quiz >

Other quiz:

How do we transform the verb TO BE in Present Continuous Tense? A. am/is/are B. was/were C. have/has

Rayyan and Sophia _______ pens.

How to use : Read the question carefully, then select one of the answers button.

GrammarQuiz.Net - Improve your knowledge of English grammar, the best way to kill your free time.

• Rules/Help/FAQ Help/FAQ
• Members Current visitors
• Interface Language

Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.

Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.

• English Only

Help me <do / doing / to do> my homework

• Thread starter mink-shin
• Start date Jun 1, 2016

Senior Member

• Jun 1, 2016

I'm curious if there is subtle difference among root infinitive, to + infinitive and -ing after a phrase with a construction "help + objective". Because I learned those things are a okay in that case. But my teacher didn't teach me how difference there is among them. So would you mind if i ask you difference among them?  

Florentia52

Modwoman in the attic.

Please give us an example sentence that illustrates your question, along with the context in which you would use it.  

Florentia52 said: Please give us an example sentence that illustrates your question, along with the context in which you would use it. Click to expand...

And which do you think is/are correct?  

Florentia52 said: And which do you think is/are correct? Click to expand...

"Help me do" and "help me to do" are both correct and mean the same thing. Because the "to" is unnecessary, most people would omit it. "Help me doing my homework" is not correct.  

johngiovanni

I agree with Florentia, of course, but just to say "Help me with my homework, please" is also good. We could make up other sentences where the -ing form is appropriate. "I would like some help with doing the ironing"; "Could you please help me with tidying up the kitchen", etc.  

• Jun 2, 2016

Florentia52 said: "Help me do" and "help me to do" are both correct and mean the same thing. Because the "to" is unnecessary, most people would omit it. Thanks, Florentia52. "Help me doing my homework" is not correct. Click to expand...

johngiovanni said: I agree with Florentia, of course, but just to say "Help me with my homework, please" is also good. We could make up other sentences where the -ing form is appropriate. "I would like some help with doing the ironing"; "Could you please help me with tidying up the kitchen", etc. Click to expand...

mink-shin said: My teacher taught me that i could omit a phrase with construction "which+be". Is there any problem when i think of the sentence "Help me doing my homework" as the sentence without "which am"? Click to expand...

Florentia52 said: I'm sorry, but I don't understand your question. How would "which am" fit into a version of the sentence "Help me doing my homework?" (To be honest, I can't think of any sentence in which "which am" could be used.) Click to expand...

"Help me doing my homework" does not work. "I need some help doing my homework" would be fine (but that is with the noun help , not the verb).  

Forero said: "Help me doing my homework" does not work. "I need some help doing my homework" would be fine (but that is with the noun help , not the verb). Click to expand...

The verb "help" is followed by an infinitive: She helped me (to) do my homework. It may be followed by the -ing form in negative sentences of this type, where the meaning of "help" is different: I couldn't help noticing that her fingernails were dirty.  

sagar grammar

Even I was taught and I have also read it in a grammar book which says... The verb "help" can be followed by an infinitive , "bare infinitive" and also a "preposition+ gerund". With no grammatical mistake. Means. 1- he helped me to do my h.w. (√) 2- he helped me do my h.w. (√) 3- he helped me doing my h.w. (×) 4- he helped me in doing my h.w. (√) Sentence 3 is wrong.. But 4 is correct... While 2 is more usual than 1 Hope this will help you  

Hi sagar, I don't think I would use your (3). He helped me by doing my homework is possible, but the meaning changes. Here, he does all the work for me.  

velisarius said: Hi sagar, I don't think I would use your (3). He helped me by doing my homework is possible, but the meaning changes. Here, he does all the work for me. Click to expand...

velisarius said: I'm sorry, sagar grammmar - I meant to write "I don't think I would use your #4 either". I'll help you in doing the washing-up. I'll help you (to) do the washing -up. Click to expand...

Attachments

I certainly wouldn't recommend anyone to use "help someone in doing something", since we normally simply use the infinitive. You can compare here frequency of usage: Google Ngram Viewer  

sagar, thanks very much. After careful reading your post, I'm totally understand now. All your example helped me to study about the verb "help". Especially, your example about difference of prepositions is most. And velisarius, Thanks.  

velisarius said: I'm sorry, sagar grammmar - I meant to write "I don't think I would use your #4 either". i) I'll help you in doing the washing-up. ii) I'll help you (to) do the washing -up. Click to expand...

I'm not assuming anything, but in this example: "A Pilot engaged for airspray work had to supervise the work of persons who helped him in doing the work he himself had to perform." I see no difference in meaning. The example is from Law on Industrial Disputes , by Vithalbhai B. Patel Commentary on sections 1 to 40 I have no way of knowing whether Vithalbhai Patel was educated in India, but perhaps the construction is more common in Indian English. Most (not all) of the examples I could find online were by non-native writers. Edit: this particular example sounds almost okay to me, but I find it a little ambiguous: does he mean "helped him to do the work" or helped him by doing the work"?  

velisarius said: I'm not assuming anything, but in this example: "A Pilot engaged for airspray work had to supervise the work of persons who helped him in doing the work he himself had to perform." I see no difference in meaning. The example is from Law on Industrial Disputes , by Vithalbhai B. Patel Commentary on sections 1 to 40 I have no way of knowing whether Vithalbhai Patel was educated in India, but perhaps the construction is more common in Indian English. Most (not all) of the examples I could find online were by non-native writers. Click to expand...

sagar grammar said: Even I was taught and I have also read it in a grammar book which says... The verb "help" can be followed by an infinitive , "bare infinitive" and also a "preposition+ gerund". With no grammatical mistake. Means. 1- he helped me to do my h.w. (√) 2- he helped me do my h.w. (√) 3- he helped me doing my h.w. (×) 4- he helped me in doing my h.w. (√) Sentence 3 is wrong.. But 4 is correct... While 2 is more usual than 1 Hope this will help you Click to expand...

There is not any difference in meaning... - sagar Click to expand...

Sentence 4 might be grammatically correct. But it doesn't sound as natural as 1 and 2.  

And in my opinion .. These both are correct but have different meaning.. 1- He helped me in doing the work.(i was doing my work and he helped me in that ) 2- He helped me by doing the work. ( i wasn't doing the work he helped me and did all my work himself ) That's what i think.. being a non native speaker i can only tell you my thinking and how i have seen it's usage. It's your choice believe it or not..  

sagar grammar said: And in my opinion .. These both are correct but have different meaning.. 1- He helped me in doing the work.(i was doing my work and he helped me in that ) 2- He helped me by doing the work. ( i wasn't doing the work he helped me and did all my work himself ) That's what i think.. being a non native speaker i can only tell you my thinking and how i have seen it's usage. It's your choice believe it or not.. Click to expand...

mink-shin said: Sagar, you're one of best teacher i've ever met. Thanks ! There are a lot of people who use English, I think that's why this forum exist. Click to expand...

mink-shin said: Sagar, you're one of best teacher i've ever met. Thanks ! There are a lot of people who use English, I think that's why this forum exist. So I don't care if you're native or not. Click to expand...

sagar grammar said: There are some mistakes in your post .. The sentence should be written as.. "You're one of the best teachers I've ever met. " Thanks.. Click to expand...

"They helped him in doing the work" does not always mean the same as "They helped him do the work". The latter means they did part of the work; the former could mean they did all or part of the work, or that they did something else while he did the work. The sentence about the pilot sounds odd to me overall, but the part "helped him in doing the work he himself had to perform" is a little weak/wordy but acceptable with the meaning "by doing work" = "by doing some work".  

Hi Forero, I don't think "They helped him in doing the work" can mean "they did something else while he did the work", but I agree that the version with preposition "in" may be ambiguous. I think it's rare to find an example of "help in doing" in current usage, but here's Conan-Doyle (Study in Scarlet ): "Now the skillful workman is very careful indeed as to what he takes into his brain-attic. He will have nothing but the tools which may help him in doing his work ..." Annotated A Study in Scarlet with English Grammar Exercises  

velisarius said: Hi Forero, I don't think "They helped him in doing the work" can mean "they did something else while he did the work", but I agree that the version with preposition "in" may be ambiguous. Click to expand...

mink-shin said: I agree with you. Before reading some examples, it'd been weird for me to understand the version with preposition "in". But after reading them, I think that those versions are same meaning. "I felt that he was inquiring and looking for something to help him in deciding my length of stay." (A Good Pair of Boots and A Road to Walk On - C. H. Evers) Click to expand...

Forero said: I take this as "help him as he decides", but it could mean "help him to decide". Click to expand...

"I felt that he was inquiring and looking for something to help him in deciding my length of stay." (A Good Pair of Boots and A Road to Walk On - C. H. Evers) It's interesting, as the writer has used the same construction at least three times in the book. On page 79 - "I went to the credit bureau and told them my problem: they were not at all concerned and they refused to help in correcting it ." (Refused to help correct it.) On page 198 - "She told me to keep track of every blank call [...] by marking it on a calendar, as this would help them in searching their own records." (This would help them when searching their own records - not equivalent to "this would help them to search their own records")  

• Jun 3, 2016

velisarius said: "I felt that he was inquiring and looking for something to help him in deciding my length of stay." (A Good Pair of Boots and A Road to Walk On - C. H. Evers) It's interesting, as the writer has used the same construction at least three times in the book. On page 79 - "I went to the credit bureau and told them my problem: they were not at all concerned and they refused to help in correcting it ." (Refused to help correct it.) On page 198 - "She told me to keep track of every blank call [...] by marking it on a calendar, as this would help them in searching their own records." (This would help them when searching their own records - not equivalent to "this would help them to search their own records") Click to expand...

• May 1, 2024

Reading the comments assures me that 1 doesn't work. 1. He helped me doing the homework. 2. He helped my doing the homework. How about 2? Does 2 work? Some help would be greatly appreciated.  

daruk said: 1. He helped me doing the homework. 2. He helped my doing the homework. Click to expand...

Some people regard "help" to be a causative verb. The same pattern can be applied with "help" as is applied with "make" or "have" in the causative sense: Subject + causative verb + agent + main verb. He made the boy tie his shoe (before continuing to play). I helped my son do his homework. @daruk , the problem with your example#2 is that the subject (he) is not helping the homework , but that is the semantic situation you have created. There is a disconnect between the grammar and the reality of the situation. For your #1, we just don't use the -ing form in this pattern of verb.  

Florentia52 said: These both sound very awkward and unlikely. What do you want the sentence to mean? Did he help you by doing your homework for you, or did he help you do the homework yourself? Click to expand...

Bmm5045 said: Some people regard "help" to be a causative verb. The same pattern can be applied with "help" as is applied with "make" or "have" in the causative sense: Subject + causative verb + agent + main verb. He made the boy tie his shoe (before continuing to play). I helped my son do his homework. @daruk , the problem with your example#2 is that the subject (he) is not helping the homework , but that is the semantic situation you have created. There is a disconnect between the grammar and the reality of the situation. For your #1, we just don't use the -ing form in this pattern of verb. Click to expand...

What are your chances of acceptance?

Calculate for all schools, your chance of acceptance.

Your chancing factors

Extracurriculars.

10 Resources to Help You Study and Work from Home

As school systems temporarily close their doors to stop the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), an increasing number of students may find themselves hitting the books from their homes. Along with providing students with a way to stay busy during the quarantine, online education prevents them from falling behind in class while enabling them to prep for college and beyond. 

Studying and working from home come with numerous challenges, especially when it comes to staying focused. Luckily, modern technology provides plenty of resources to help students achieve their goals. If it’s been difficult for you to be productive at home, the odds are there’s a website or app to meet your needs. Keep reading for 10 free resources to help you study or work from home.

10 Resources for Studying and Working from Home

Want to ensure your work-from-home efforts are a success? From combatting productivity problems to sticking to a schedule, the following resources will help you stay organized in these uncertain times:

1. If you’re having trouble following a schedule…

Adhering to a study schedule can be challenging if you only have yourself to answer to. If you’re used to scheduled classes and strict deadlines, think about downloading the free Marinara Timer app as a way of staying on track. A takeoff on the well-known Pomodoro timer, which suggests 25 minutes of work followed by 5 minutes of relaxation, the Marinara Timer lets you customize time segments in advance based on your specific workload and needs. 

2. If you need to block out distractions…

Between cell phones and TV, the average home is packed with distractions that can impede your ability to work or study. Fortunately, a number of blocking apps exist to stop you from watching YouTube videos or shopping ModCloth when you have work to do. An all-in-one distraction blocking app that’s free, Freedom stops users from opening websites or apps while they’re supposed to be studying. 

3. If you struggle to stay organized…

If you’re studying from home for the first time, you might have trouble keeping your notes organized for multiple classes. That’s where Evernote comes in. Designed to store and organize multiple sets of notes in one location, this app allows you to create study guides and share information with friends and classmates in different locations. As a bonus, students can currently get a year of Evernote Premium at 50% off, but there’s also a free Basic version.

4. If proofreading is your weak point…

Even the most insightful, thought-provoking papers and essays can be destroyed by sloppy writing. If spelling and grammar are your weak spots, think about downloading Grammarly to ensure the work you complete at home is as strong as possible. A free browser add-on, Grammarly helps you correct your mistakes while identifying areas where your skills need improvement. 

5. If you need a better to-do list…

Between classwork, standardized testing, and college application work, prioritizing tasks can be a challenge when you’re working from home. Designed to free up valuable mental real estate, the Todoist app allows you to arrange tasks in order of importance. Once you know nothing can slip through the cracks, you can focus on completing each task one at a time. Todoist offers both a free Basic version and paid Premium version.

You can also try Trello , a free website and app that allows you to build lists. The main page is called a board, which is the space for your lists. Under each list, you can write “cards,” which have space for a title, deadline, label, attachments, notes, and comments. Trello is especially useful if the things on your to-do list involve multiple steps or different categories, as you can make separate lists for those. It’s also helpful for collaborating with others on projects, as you can claim cards and invite multiple people to your Trello board.

6. If your worst subject is math…

If you struggle in your math classes, you might find studying this subject at home to be especially challenging. It can be even harder if you don’t have a scientific calculator to help you with your homework. Fortunately, MyScript Calculator allows you to handwrite calculations on a phone or tablet, which it will then solve automatically.

7. If you need to scan documents or images…

Not all tasks and assignments can be submitted via email. If you need to scan documents for work or school, think about downloading Scanner Pro 7 . An app that turns your phone or tablet into a scanner, this $3.99 purchase allows you to scan book pages, photos, and more. As a bonus, the app automatically removes shadows and other defects from your images.

There are also free versions in the app store, such as Simple Scan . Just keep in mind that the functionality of free apps is likely more limited.

8. If you need to do some reading…

Just because you can’t hit the library doesn’t mean you have to spend a fortune ordering your books from Amazon or Barnes and Noble. A free resource for students of all ages, Project Gutenberg is an online library of 60,000 e-books including many of the classics that feature prominently on school reading lists. Browse by author, title, subject, language, and categories.

You can also use Overdrive to borrow ebooks for free, if your local library participates (many do!).

9. If you need a soundtrack for studying…

While many students prefer to work with a little background noise, Brain.fm takes study music a step further. In fact, the app uses patented processes to create music proven to help people learn. The website claims to remove distractions from sound to help you focus on the task at hand. You can try 5 sessions for free and see if it works for you.

10. If you need help with your college essays (or regular school essays)…

Just because you’re embarking on the admissions process from home doesn’t mean you’re on your own when writing college essays. To that end, CollegeVine offers a peer essay review service that students can use for free. All you have to do is submit a copy of your essay online and wait for the comments to roll in. Additionally, you can review other students’ essays to learn more about the writing process and garner insight to improve your own writing.

If you or a loved one is embarking on the college admissions journey, then you probably know that the COVID-19 outbreak is impacting the application process for students nationwide. At CollegeVine, we’re passionate about keeping families informed throughout the pandemic. With that in mind, we created our Coronavirus Information Center to provide you with the latest news and developments. Check back regularly for test dates, application tips, and blogs regarding the epidemic and its effect on education.

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

Sentence examples for helped me with my homework from inspiring English sources

Login and get your AI feedback from Ludwig. Login and get your AI feedback from Ludwig.

Is your sentence correct in English?

Login and get your AI feedback from Ludwig.

"They could not help me with my homework ," she said of her parents.

"I would like her to help me with my homework ," Joaquin said, adding that he has never met his father.

He helps me with my homework , he takes me fun places, he buys me food and he takes care of me".

"Now it's easier for my parents to help me with my homework , because I always have the books I need".

"If I had a report due the next day and it was really late, he'd help me with my homework ," Yusuf says.

Write in English at your best, with Ludwig

Used by millions of students, scientific researchers, professional translators and editors from all over the world.

Listya Utami K.

Be a smart writer

Most frequent sentences:, write in english at your best with ludwig.

Reported Speech Exercise 3

Perfect english grammar.

• Review reported orders and requests here
• Download this quiz in PDF here
• More reported speech exercises here

Hello! I'm Seonaid! I'm here to help you understand grammar and speak correct, fluent English.

Read more about our learning method

Does Homework Really Help Students Learn?

A conversation with a Wheelock researcher, a BU student, and a fourth-grade teacher

“Quality homework is engaging and relevant to kids’ lives,” says Wheelock’s Janine Bempechat. “It gives them autonomy and engages them in the community and with their families. In some subjects, like math, worksheets can be very helpful. It has to do with the value of practicing over and over.” Photo by iStock/Glenn Cook Photography

Do your homework.

If only it were that simple.

Educators have debated the merits of homework since the late 19th century. In recent years, amid concerns of some parents and teachers that children are being stressed out by too much homework, things have only gotten more fraught.

“Homework is complicated,” says developmental psychologist Janine Bempechat, a Wheelock College of Education & Human Development clinical professor. The author of the essay “ The Case for (Quality) Homework—Why It Improves Learning and How Parents Can Help ” in the winter 2019 issue of Education Next , Bempechat has studied how the debate about homework is influencing teacher preparation, parent and student beliefs about learning, and school policies.

She worries especially about socioeconomically disadvantaged students from low-performing schools who, according to research by Bempechat and others, get little or no homework.

BU Today  sat down with Bempechat and Erin Bruce (Wheelock’17,’18), a new fourth-grade teacher at a suburban Boston school, and future teacher freshman Emma Ardizzone (Wheelock) to talk about what quality homework looks like, how it can help children learn, and how schools can equip teachers to design it, evaluate it, and facilitate parents’ role in it.

BU Today: Parents and educators who are against homework in elementary school say there is no research definitively linking it to academic performance for kids in the early grades. You’ve said that they’re missing the point.

Bempechat : I think teachers assign homework in elementary school as a way to help kids develop skills they’ll need when they’re older—to begin to instill a sense of responsibility and to learn planning and organizational skills. That’s what I think is the greatest value of homework—in cultivating beliefs about learning and skills associated with academic success. If we greatly reduce or eliminate homework in elementary school, we deprive kids and parents of opportunities to instill these important learning habits and skills.

We do know that beginning in late middle school, and continuing through high school, there is a strong and positive correlation between homework completion and academic success.

That’s what I think is the greatest value of homework—in cultivating beliefs about learning and skills associated with academic success.

You talk about the importance of quality homework. What is that?

Quality homework is engaging and relevant to kids’ lives. It gives them autonomy and engages them in the community and with their families. In some subjects, like math, worksheets can be very helpful. It has to do with the value of practicing over and over.

What are your concerns about homework and low-income children?

The argument that some people make—that homework “punishes the poor” because lower-income parents may not be as well-equipped as affluent parents to help their children with homework—is very troubling to me. There are no parents who don’t care about their children’s learning. Parents don’t actually have to help with homework completion in order for kids to do well. They can help in other ways—by helping children organize a study space, providing snacks, being there as a support, helping children work in groups with siblings or friends.

Isn’t the discussion about getting rid of homework happening mostly in affluent communities?

Yes, and the stories we hear of kids being stressed out from too much homework—four or five hours of homework a night—are real. That’s problematic for physical and mental health and overall well-being. But the research shows that higher-income students get a lot more homework than lower-income kids.

Teachers may not have as high expectations for lower-income children. Schools should bear responsibility for providing supports for kids to be able to get their homework done—after-school clubs, community support, peer group support. It does kids a disservice when our expectations are lower for them.

The conversation around homework is to some extent a social class and social justice issue. If we eliminate homework for all children because affluent children have too much, we’re really doing a disservice to low-income children. They need the challenge, and every student can rise to the challenge with enough supports in place.

What did you learn by studying how education schools are preparing future teachers to handle homework?

My colleague, Margarita Jimenez-Silva, at the University of California, Davis, School of Education, and I interviewed faculty members at education schools, as well as supervising teachers, to find out how students are being prepared. And it seemed that they weren’t. There didn’t seem to be any readings on the research, or conversations on what high-quality homework is and how to design it.

Erin, what kind of training did you get in handling homework?

Bruce : I had phenomenal professors at Wheelock, but homework just didn’t come up. I did lots of student teaching. I’ve been in classrooms where the teachers didn’t assign any homework, and I’ve been in rooms where they assigned hours of homework a night. But I never even considered homework as something that was my decision. I just thought it was something I’d pull out of a book and it’d be done.

I started giving homework on the first night of school this year. My first assignment was to go home and draw a picture of the room where you do your homework. I want to know if it’s at a table and if there are chairs around it and if mom’s cooking dinner while you’re doing homework.

The second night I asked them to talk to a grown-up about how are you going to be able to get your homework done during the week. The kids really enjoyed it. There’s a running joke that I’m teaching life skills.

Friday nights, I read all my kids’ responses to me on their homework from the week and it’s wonderful. They pour their hearts out. It’s like we’re having a conversation on my couch Friday night.

It matters to know that the teacher cares about you and that what you think matters to the teacher. Homework is a vehicle to connect home and school…for parents to know teachers are welcoming to them and their families.

Bempechat : I can’t imagine that most new teachers would have the intuition Erin had in designing homework the way she did.

Ardizzone : Conversations with kids about homework, feeling you’re being listened to—that’s such a big part of wanting to do homework….I grew up in Westchester County. It was a pretty demanding school district. My junior year English teacher—I loved her—she would give us feedback, have meetings with all of us. She’d say, “If you have any questions, if you have anything you want to talk about, you can talk to me, here are my office hours.” It felt like she actually cared.

Bempechat : It matters to know that the teacher cares about you and that what you think matters to the teacher. Homework is a vehicle to connect home and school…for parents to know teachers are welcoming to them and their families.

Ardizzone : But can’t it lead to parents being overbearing and too involved in their children’s lives as students?

Bempechat : There’s good help and there’s bad help. The bad help is what you’re describing—when parents hover inappropriately, when they micromanage, when they see their children confused and struggling and tell them what to do.

Good help is when parents recognize there’s a struggle going on and instead ask informative questions: “Where do you think you went wrong?” They give hints, or pointers, rather than saying, “You missed this,” or “You didn’t read that.”

Bruce : I hope something comes of this. I hope BU or Wheelock can think of some way to make this a more pressing issue. As a first-year teacher, it was not something I even thought about on the first day of school—until a kid raised his hand and said, “Do we have homework?” It would have been wonderful if I’d had a plan from day one.

Explore Related Topics:

• Share this story

Senior Contributing Editor

Sara Rimer A journalist for more than three decades, Sara Rimer worked at the Miami Herald , Washington Post and, for 26 years, the New York Times , where she was the New England bureau chief, and a national reporter covering education, aging, immigration, and other social justice issues. Her stories on the death penalty’s inequities were nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and cited in the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision outlawing the execution of people with intellectual disabilities. Her journalism honors include Columbia University’s Meyer Berger award for in-depth human interest reporting. She holds a BA degree in American Studies from the University of Michigan. Profile

She can be reached at [email protected] .

Comments & Discussion

Boston University moderates comments to facilitate an informed, substantive, civil conversation. Abusive, profane, self-promotional, misleading, incoherent or off-topic comments will be rejected. Moderators are staffed during regular business hours (EST) and can only accept comments written in English. Statistics or facts must include a citation or a link to the citation.

There are 81 comments on Does Homework Really Help Students Learn?

Insightful! The values about homework in elementary schools are well aligned with my intuition as a parent.

when i finish my work i do my homework and i sometimes forget what to do because i did not get enough sleep

same omg it does not help me it is stressful and if I have it in more than one class I hate it.

Same I think my parent wants to help me but, she doesn’t care if I get bad grades so I just try my best and my grades are great.

I think that last question about Good help from parents is not know to all parents, we do as our parents did or how we best think it can be done, so maybe coaching parents or giving them resources on how to help with homework would be very beneficial for the parent on how to help and for the teacher to have consistency and improve homework results, and of course for the child. I do see how homework helps reaffirm the knowledge obtained in the classroom, I also have the ability to see progress and it is a time I share with my kids

The answer to the headline question is a no-brainer – a more pressing problem is why there is a difference in how students from different cultures succeed. Perfect example is the student population at BU – why is there a majority population of Asian students and only about 3% black students at BU? In fact at some universities there are law suits by Asians to stop discrimination and quotas against admitting Asian students because the real truth is that as a group they are demonstrating better qualifications for admittance, while at the same time there are quotas and reduced requirements for black students to boost their portion of the student population because as a group they do more poorly in meeting admissions standards – and it is not about the Benjamins. The real problem is that in our PC society no one has the gazuntas to explore this issue as it may reveal that all people are not created equal after all. Or is it just environmental cultural differences??????

I get you have a concern about the issue but that is not even what the point of this article is about. If you have an issue please take this to the site we have and only post your opinion about the actual topic

This is not at all what the article is talking about.

This literally has nothing to do with the article brought up. You should really take your opinions somewhere else before you speak about something that doesn’t make sense.

we have the same name

so they have the same name what of it?

lol you tell her

totally agree

What does that have to do with homework, that is not what the article talks about AT ALL.

Yes, I think homework plays an important role in the development of student life. Through homework, students have to face challenges on a daily basis and they try to solve them quickly.I am an intense online tutor at 24x7homeworkhelp and I give homework to my students at that level in which they handle it easily.

More than two-thirds of students said they used alcohol and drugs, primarily marijuana, to cope with stress.

You know what’s funny? I got this assignment to write an argument for homework about homework and this article was really helpful and understandable, and I also agree with this article’s point of view.

I also got the same task as you! I was looking for some good resources and I found this! I really found this article useful and easy to understand, just like you! ^^

i think that homework is the best thing that a child can have on the school because it help them with their thinking and memory.

I am a child myself and i think homework is a terrific pass time because i can’t play video games during the week. It also helps me set goals.

Homework is not harmful ,but it will if there is too much

I feel like, from a minors point of view that we shouldn’t get homework. Not only is the homework stressful, but it takes us away from relaxing and being social. For example, me and my friends was supposed to hang at the mall last week but we had to postpone it since we all had some sort of work to do. Our minds shouldn’t be focused on finishing an assignment that in realty, doesn’t matter. I completely understand that we should have homework. I have to write a paper on the unimportance of homework so thanks.

homework isn’t that bad

Are you a student? if not then i don’t really think you know how much and how severe todays homework really is

i am a student and i do not enjoy homework because i practice my sport 4 out of the five days we have school for 4 hours and that’s not even counting the commute time or the fact i still have to shower and eat dinner when i get home. its draining!

i totally agree with you. these people are such boomers

why just why

they do make a really good point, i think that there should be a limit though. hours and hours of homework can be really stressful, and the extra work isn’t making a difference to our learning, but i do believe homework should be optional and extra credit. that would make it for students to not have the leaning stress of a assignment and if you have a low grade you you can catch up.

Studies show that homework improves student achievement in terms of improved grades, test results, and the likelihood to attend college. Research published in the High School Journal indicates that students who spent between 31 and 90 minutes each day on homework “scored about 40 points higher on the SAT-Mathematics subtest than their peers, who reported spending no time on homework each day, on average.” On both standardized tests and grades, students in classes that were assigned homework outperformed 69% of students who didn’t have homework. A majority of studies on homework’s impact – 64% in one meta-study and 72% in another – showed that take home assignments were effective at improving academic achievement. Research by the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) concluded that increased homework led to better GPAs and higher probability of college attendance for high school boys. In fact, boys who attended college did more than three hours of additional homework per week in high school.

So how are your measuring student achievement? That’s the real question. The argument that doing homework is simply a tool for teaching responsibility isn’t enough for me. We can teach responsibility in a number of ways. Also the poor argument that parents don’t need to help with homework, and that students can do it on their own, is wishful thinking at best. It completely ignores neurodiverse students. Students in poverty aren’t magically going to find a space to do homework, a friend’s or siblings to help them do it, and snacks to eat. I feel like the author of this piece has never set foot in a classroom of students.

THIS. This article is pathetic coming from a university. So intellectually dishonest, refusing to address the havoc of capitalism and poverty plays on academic success in life. How can they in one sentence use poor kids in an argument and never once address that poor children have access to damn near 0 of the resources affluent kids have? Draw me a picture and let’s talk about feelings lmao what a joke is that gonna put food in their belly so they can have the calories to burn in order to use their brain to study? What about quiet their 7 other siblings that they share a single bedroom with for hours? Is it gonna force the single mom to magically be at home and at work at the same time to cook food while you study and be there to throw an encouraging word?

Also the “parents don’t need to be a parent and be able to guide their kid at all academically they just need to exist in the next room” is wild. Its one thing if a parent straight up is not equipped but to say kids can just figured it out is…. wow coming from an educator What’s next the teacher doesn’t need to teach cause the kid can just follow the packet and figure it out?

Well then get a tutor right? Oh wait you are poor only affluent kids can afford a tutor for their hours of homework a day were they on average have none of the worries a poor child does. Does this address that poor children are more likely to also suffer abuse and mental illness? Like mentioned what about kids that can’t learn or comprehend the forced standardized way? Just let em fail? These children regularly are not in “special education”(some of those are a joke in their own and full of neglect and abuse) programs cause most aren’t even acknowledged as having disabilities or disorders.

But yes all and all those pesky poor kids just aren’t being worked hard enough lol pretty sure poor children’s existence just in childhood is more work, stress, and responsibility alone than an affluent child’s entire life cycle. Love they never once talked about the quality of education in the classroom being so bad between the poor and affluent it can qualify as segregation, just basically blamed poor people for being lazy, good job capitalism for failing us once again!

why the hell?

you should feel bad for saying this, this article can be helpful for people who has to write a essay about it

This is more of a political rant than it is about homework

I know a teacher who has told his students their homework is to find something they are interested in, pursue it and then come share what they learn. The student responses are quite compelling. One girl taught herself German so she could talk to her grandfather. One boy did a research project on Nelson Mandela because the teacher had mentioned him in class. Another boy, a both on the autism spectrum, fixed his family’s computer. The list goes on. This is fourth grade. I think students are highly motivated to learn, when we step aside and encourage them.

The whole point of homework is to give the students a chance to use the material that they have been presented with in class. If they never have the opportunity to use that information, and discover that it is actually useful, it will be in one ear and out the other. As a science teacher, it is critical that the students are challenged to use the material they have been presented with, which gives them the opportunity to actually think about it rather than regurgitate “facts”. Well designed homework forces the student to think conceptually, as opposed to regurgitation, which is never a pretty sight

Wonderful discussion. and yes, homework helps in learning and building skills in students.

not true it just causes kids to stress

Homework can be both beneficial and unuseful, if you will. There are students who are gifted in all subjects in school and ones with disabilities. Why should the students who are gifted get the lucky break, whereas the people who have disabilities suffer? The people who were born with this “gift” go through school with ease whereas people with disabilities struggle with the work given to them. I speak from experience because I am one of those students: the ones with disabilities. Homework doesn’t benefit “us”, it only tears us down and put us in an abyss of confusion and stress and hopelessness because we can’t learn as fast as others. Or we can’t handle the amount of work given whereas the gifted students go through it with ease. It just brings us down and makes us feel lost; because no mater what, it feels like we are destined to fail. It feels like we weren’t “cut out” for success.

homework does help

here is the thing though, if a child is shoved in the face with a whole ton of homework that isn’t really even considered homework it is assignments, it’s not helpful. the teacher should make homework more of a fun learning experience rather than something that is dreaded

This article was wonderful, I am going to ask my teachers about extra, or at all giving homework.

I agree. Especially when you have homework before an exam. Which is distasteful as you’ll need that time to study. It doesn’t make any sense, nor does us doing homework really matters as It’s just facts thrown at us.

Homework is too severe and is just too much for students, schools need to decrease the amount of homework. When teachers assign homework they forget that the students have other classes that give them the same amount of homework each day. Students need to work on social skills and life skills.

I disagree.

Beyond achievement, proponents of homework argue that it can have many other beneficial effects. They claim it can help students develop good study habits so they are ready to grow as their cognitive capacities mature. It can help students recognize that learning can occur at home as well as at school. Homework can foster independent learning and responsible character traits. And it can give parents an opportunity to see what’s going on at school and let them express positive attitudes toward achievement.

Homework is helpful because homework helps us by teaching us how to learn a specific topic.

As a student myself, I can say that I have almost never gotten the full 9 hours of recommended sleep time, because of homework. (Now I’m writing an essay on it in the middle of the night D=)

I am a 10 year old kid doing a report about “Is homework good or bad” for homework before i was going to do homework is bad but the sources from this site changed my mind!

Homeowkr is god for stusenrs

I agree with hunter because homework can be so stressful especially with this whole covid thing no one has time for homework and every one just wants to get back to there normal lives it is especially stressful when you go on a 2 week vaca 3 weeks into the new school year and and then less then a week after you come back from the vaca you are out for over a month because of covid and you have no way to get the assignment done and turned in

As great as homework is said to be in the is article, I feel like the viewpoint of the students was left out. Every where I go on the internet researching about this topic it almost always has interviews from teachers, professors, and the like. However isn’t that a little biased? Of course teachers are going to be for homework, they’re not the ones that have to stay up past midnight completing the homework from not just one class, but all of them. I just feel like this site is one-sided and you should include what the students of today think of spending four hours every night completing 6-8 classes worth of work.

Are we talking about homework or practice? Those are two very different things and can result in different outcomes.

Homework is a graded assignment. I do not know of research showing the benefits of graded assignments going home.

Practice; however, can be extremely beneficial, especially if there is some sort of feedback (not a grade but feedback). That feedback can come from the teacher, another student or even an automated grading program.

As a former band director, I assigned daily practice. I never once thought it would be appropriate for me to require the students to turn in a recording of their practice for me to grade. Instead, I had in-class assignments/assessments that were graded and directly related to the practice assigned.

I would really like to read articles on “homework” that truly distinguish between the two.

oof i feel bad good luck!

thank you guys for the artical because I have to finish an assingment. yes i did cite it but just thanks

thx for the article guys.

Homework is good

I think homework is helpful AND harmful. Sometimes u can’t get sleep bc of homework but it helps u practice for school too so idk.

I agree with this Article. And does anyone know when this was published. I would like to know.

It was published FEb 19, 2019.

Studies have shown that homework improved student achievement in terms of improved grades, test results, and the likelihood to attend college.

i think homework can help kids but at the same time not help kids

This article is so out of touch with majority of homes it would be laughable if it wasn’t so incredibly sad.

There is no value to homework all it does is add stress to already stressed homes. Parents or adults magically having the time or energy to shepherd kids through homework is dome sort of 1950’s fantasy.

What lala land do these teachers live in?

Homework gives noting to the kid

Homework is Bad

homework is bad.

why do kids even have homework?

Comments are closed.

Latest from Bostonia

Bu alum chompon boonnak runs mahaniyom, one of greater boston’s hottest thai restaurants, champion of indie films, china scholar merle goldman dies, cfa alum jonathan knight is head of games for the new york times, is our democracy at risk americans think so. bu experts talk about why—and the way forward, a commitment to early childhood education, reading list: alum bonnie hammer publishes 15 lies women are told at work —plus fiction, poetry, and short stories, one good deed: jason hurdich (cas’97) is uniting the deaf community, one cup at a time, space force general b. chance saltzman is a bu alum, alum’s new book recounts the battle for inclusion in boy scouts, feedback: readers weigh in on a bu superager, the passing of otto lerbinger, and alum’s book fat church, law alum steven m. wise, who fought for animal rights, dies, pups wearing custom-designed veterinary collars get star treatment in alum’s new coffee-table book, using glamour for good: alum’s nonprofit organization brings clothes and beauty products to those in need, gallery: shea justice (cfa’93), oscar-nominated actor hong chau (com’01) stars in new action-comedy the instigators, opening doors: ellice patterson (questrom’17), an alum’s new memoir recounts six decades of beatlemania, bu alum in paris keeping olympians’ minds sharp and healthy, erika jordan departs bu alumni engagement office to return to california.

5 ways Google Assistant can help with homework

Take the headache out of homework with these tips.

I don't know how many times my teen has asked me a question about a topic I know nothing about during homework time and I've told her to Google it. It actually isn't bad advice.

Turns out, Google Assistant can help with a wide range of homework problems that hassle kids and parents every evening. These tips will make homework easier for everyone using Google Assistant. 

Set study timers

Studies show that frequent breaks during tasks can lead to better concentration and higher productivity . To make pacing your child's study time easier, you can schedule homework breaks using Google Assistant's timer feature. 

To set up a study timer, say, "OK Google, set my homework timer." Google will create a timer named My Homework and will ask you how long you want the timer to last. Once it gets your command, the timer will start counting down. Then let your kid know that when the timer goes off, it's break time.

5 new Google Assistant actions for your home and phone

Set reminders

If your child is really bad about remembering when to study for tests, set up reminders using Google Assistant. To either the Google Assistant app or a Google Home speaker say, "OK Google, set a reminder." Then, just answer the assistant's questions to save the reminder. 

At the beginning of study time ask, "Hey Google, what are my reminders?" to know exactly what needs to be studied that evening.

Foreign language classes can be tricky to study for, especially when mom or dad doesn't know the language. While it's not great at translating complicated sentences yet, Google Assistant can help with rudimentary questions like:

• Hey Google, what is the Spanish word for bathroom?
• OK Google, what does "n'est-ce pas" mean?
• Hey Google, how do you say milk in Russian?

Use it as a calculator

Have you ever checked your child's math homework and had no idea if the answer is correct? I've been there, too. Thankfully, Google has equation solving abilities. 

For example, you can ask, "OK Google, what is pi times 49 squared?" Google Assistant will answer back, "The answer is 7,542.96."

Learn how to solve problems

Google Assistant can also teach you and your child how to solve math problems. For example, I've asked it, "Hey Google, how do you solve an algebraic equation with a fraction in it?" 

For complicated processes like these, Google will search for a good YouTube video on the subject and will bring it up on devices with a screen, like Google Home Hub , Lenovo Smart Display or your phone.

Smart Home Guides

• Best Smart Lights
• Best LED Floodlight
• Best Alexa Devices
• Best Smart Garage Door Opener Controller
• Generator vs. Battery
• Best Indoor Smart Gardens
• Tesla Solar Panels Review
• Best Smart Home Devices
• Best Smart Thermostats
• Best Smart Locks
• Best Apple Homekit Devices
• Best Google Assistant & Nest Device

• English ESL Worksheets
• Grammar Topics

Can you help me with my homework? Reading Comp + should