assistance

«assistance» in Mova's school dictionary: help or support given to someone — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (assistance — uncountable)

meaning for a pupil

1) Assistance is help or support given to someone. tree →

2) Assistance is often a formal word for help from a service, like medical assistance. tree →

sense in the lessons

In everyday life and safety it is used on signs and in announcements: «Do you need assistance?», «call for assistance», «roadside assistance». In school, pupils who need extra help get assistance from a teaching assistant. In stories, a hero comes to someone's assistance.

examples

• Can I be of any assistance? tree →
• Call the lifeguard for assistance. tree →
• The lady needed assistance with her heavy bags. tree →
• A teaching assistant gives us assistance with reading. tree →
• The firefighters came to our assistance quickly. tree →
• Press this button if you need assistance. tree →
• Give assistance, not advice, in a crisis. tree →

note

Uncountable: «some assistance», not «an assistance» or «assistances». It is more formal than «help». The person who helps is an assistant (spelled -ant); the help itself is assistance (spelled -ance). Verb: assist.

In the corpora

• "Receiving public assistance" (official US) means living on welfare: money the government gives to people who need help.
• A guide dog or assistance dog in a harness is working, so you do not stroke, call or feed it.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «assistance» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.