Meaning & use
assist on or with
Last updated
Meaning
phrasefixed phrase
Help someone with a task or piece of work, or take part in a project or activity.
Grammar: Use 'assist someone with something' or 'assist on something'; the verb 'assist' is formal and usually takes a direct object or a prepositional phrase.
Patterns
- assist someone with something
- assist with something
- assist on a project
- assist on a case
She asked me to assist with the travel arrangements for the conference.
Two junior doctors assisted on the operation.
Could you assist me with these calculations?
Common combinations
- assist with a task
- He assisted with the clean-up after the event.
- assist on a project
- She assisted on a project to redesign the website.
- assist someone with something
- The teacher assisted the students with their essays.
- assist in an investigation
- The witness assisted in the investigation.
Synonyms and how they differ
Word family
- assistance noun
- Help or support given to someone.
- assistant noun
- A person who helps another person in their work.
Commonly confused: assist on or with or assist in?
assist on or with vs assist in
'Assist in' is followed by a noun or an -ing form (assist in the search / assist in finding a solution), while 'assist with' is followed by a noun phrase (assist with the search).
Practice
Choose the correct preposition: The intern was asked to assist ______ the report.
Choose one answer.
'Assist with' is used for helping with a task or piece of work like a report. 'Assist on' is used for taking part in a project or activity, not for a single document; 'for' and 'to' do not fit this pattern.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “assist on or with”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.