by Tomoyuki Higuchi
How do you say “Do you need help?” in Japanese?
Today’s phrase is :
Do you need help?
手伝おうか?
tetsudaouka
- do you need = あなたは必要 anatawa hitsuyou
- help = 手伝い tetsudai
The literal translation of “Do you need help?” is “あなたは手伝いが必要?(anatawa tetsudaiga hitsuyou)”, but you can simply say “手伝おうか?” which sounds more natural.
We offten pronounce “tetsudaouka” like “tetsudaokka“.
If you want to ask politely, you can say like this:
手伝いましょうか?
tetsudaimashouka
We pronounce “shouka” like “shōka”.