Seemingly Inconsistent Particle Usage with the Verb 手伝う


When it is not specified what the helper did...

> 私はとても忙しいので、彼 **を** 手伝うことができない。

When both action and person being helped are specified...

> 彼女は私 **に** 仕事 **を** 手伝うように頼んだ。

When it is not specified whom the helper helped...

> 彼はこの計画 **を** 手伝うだろう。

Is there some patterns or It's just that I don't understand? And if I want to
say... "Can you help me clean the classroom?" with くれる, 手伝う, and 掃除, what will
the sentence be like?




The meaning of 手伝う is: 《五他》他人の仕事をたすけて、うまく行くように力を添える。 "To help with people's
work, pay effort to make sure it works out well."

So you can understand it this way:

_私はとても忙しいので、 **彼を手伝う** ことができない。_

_As I am really busy, i cannot help **him ( with his work )._**

_彼女は私に **仕事を手伝う** ように頼んだ。_

_She asked me to **help with her work**._

_彼はこの **計画を手伝う** だろう。_

_He will probably **help with the project**._

As Japanese is a Topic-Prominent Language, the informations that are
irrelevant or commonly known by both the speaker / reader are usually omitted.

So to say "Can you help me clean the classroom?" with くれる, 手伝う, and 掃除, there
will be two ways:

  1. 私を手伝って(、一緒に教室の掃除をして)くれませんか？
  2. (私一人では大変だから、)教室の掃除を手伝ってくれませんか？

Which those information within the bracket can be optionally omitted, if you
feel like it.

Hope that helps.

