Meaning & use
assistance
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountable
Help given to someone so they can do something or deal with a problem.
Grammar: Not used with an or in the plural: she needed assistance.
Patterns
- with the assistance of someone
- assistance with something
- offer assistance
Do you need any assistance with your bags?
The hikers called for assistance after the storm.
With the assistance of a guide, they crossed the glacier.
noununcountable
Money, food or other support provided to people who need it.
Grammar: Often found in official language: financial assistance.
Patterns
- financial assistance
- provide assistance to someone
The government offers financial assistance to poor families.
The students received assistance for their tuition.
International assistance reached the flooded region.
Common combinations
- financial assistance
- She applied for financial assistance to attend college.
- medical assistance
- The injured driver needed medical assistance.
- offer assistance
- The staff offered assistance to every passenger.
- with the assistance of
- The garden was designed with the assistance of experts.
- be of assistance
- Can I be of any assistance?
Synonyms and how they differ
- help
- Help is the everyday word, while assistance sounds more formal and official.
- aid
- Aid is often used for large-scale support, such as from governments or charities.
- support
- Support suggests longer-term backing, not only helping with a task.
- relief
- Relief is help given to people hit by a disaster or poverty.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: assistance or assistants?
assistance vs assistants
Assistants are people who help; assistance is the help itself and has no plural.
Practice
Passengers who need ____ should speak to a member of staff at the front desk.
Choose one answer.
Assistance is an uncountable noun meaning help. Assistances is not standard, assistant is a person, and assist is a verb.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “assistance”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.