Ayudarte or le ayudara?

[hola]

¿como me gustariás ayudarte?
is this the correct way to say how would you like me to help you? because a Spanish lady at my job said no. but I felt I was right

[tacuba]

Some observations:

To say "¿would you like?" you would use "¿Te gustaría...?" or "¿Quisieras...?" (or formally "Le gustaría...?" or "¿Quisiera..."?

Also, the sentence is ambiguous: In English when we say "How would you like", the "how" can refer to "in what way", or "in what manner" or it can just be used as a filler word in the sense that "how would you like" and "would you like" have identical meanings.

[hola]

yea but you didn't answer my question. was my question correct or was she right?

[bobjenkins]

Originally Posted by hola

¿como me gustariás ayudarte?
is this the correct way to say how would you like me to help you? because a Spanish lady at my job said no. but I felt I was right

Creo que la frase no es correcta,

¿Cómo me gustarías ayudarte?

¿Cómo te gustaría que te ayudo? = How would you like me to help you? (más literal y mal inglés para ayudar entenderlo = How would it appeal to you that I help you)

Otra opción
¿Qué necesita usted?

[irmamar]

I could say:

¡Cómo me gustaría ayudarte! (I wish I could help you but surely I'm not able to)

But if you want to offer somebody your help, you could say:

¿Cómo podría ayudarte?
¿Quieres que te ayude (de alguna manera)?
¿Necesitas ayuda?
¿Permites (o me dejas) que te ayude?
¿Te gustaría que te ayudara?
etc.

But the sentence you wrote is not correct, I'm sorry

[pjt33]

Originally Posted by hola

¿como me gustariás ayudarte?
is this the correct way to say how would you like me to help you? because a Spanish lady at my job said no. but I felt I was right

To follow up on Irma's comments, in Spain tutear is very common (I've never heard people younger than 40 use usted with strangers unless they were in a position of authority), but IIRC you're in the US. ISTM that a lot of Latin American speakers are more formal than Spaniards; and some will use usted universally, so you may offend people by calling them tú.

To be honest, I don't think I'll ever fully understand some cultures' rules on T-V usage. I have a Bolivian friend who calls her husband tú but her cat usted; she explains it as expressing that they aren't equals. (Maybe she's really expressing that cats are superior to humans and know it?) Then there was the Ecuadorian lady who sometimes called her husband tú and sometimes usted; I think it was a question of in what rôle she was addressing him, but I'm not certain. But anyway, I shouldn't derail your thread.

[Ana]

Hola, debes decir: ¿cómo te gustaría que te ayudara?
Me imagino que te refieres a eso.
Saludos,
Ana

[chileno]

Originally Posted by pjt33

To follow up on Irma's comments, in Spain tutear is very common (I've never heard people younger than 40 use usted with strangers unless they were in a position of authority), but IIRC you're in the US. ISTM that a lot of Latin American speakers are more formal than Spaniards; and some will use usted universally, so you may offend people by calling them tú.

To be honest, I don't think I'll ever fully understand some cultures' rules on T-V usage. I have a Bolivian friend who calls her husband tú but her cat usted; she explains it as expressing that they aren't equals. (Maybe she's really expressing that cats are superior to humans and know it?) Then there was the Ecuadorian lady who sometimes called her husband tú and sometimes usted; I think it was a question of in what rôle she was addressing him, but I'm not certain. But anyway, I shouldn't derail your thread.

Generally in Chile and other countries in South America, a couple will address each other as tú, however when using "baby talk" they will address as usted. Does that make sense? Maybe that's what you have experienced...

When using usted we pretend to imbue an extra expression of endearment, of being extra affectionate. That might be happening with your bolivian friend and her/his pet. Nothing to do with superiority.

[tacuba]

Originally Posted by bobjenkins

Creo que la frase no es correcta,

¿Cómo me gustarías ayudarte?

¿Cómo te gustaría que te ayudo? = How would you like me to help you? (más literal y mal inglés para ayudar entenderlo = How would it appeal to you that I help you)

Otra opción
¿Qué necesita usted?

Hi Bob: Since the verb "gustar" is a verb of emotion, it does require the subjunctive in the subordinate clause, and since it is in the conditional (gustaría) it requires that the imperfect subjunctive or pluperfect subjunctive be used. Hey! I just used the subjunctive in English:>))

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

I agree with Ana.

"How would you like me to help you" can also be said like:

- ¿Cómo querrías que te ayudara? (a ti) / ¿Cómo querría que le ayudara? (a usted)
- ¿Cómo quisieras que te ayudara? (a ti) / ¿Cómo quisiera que le ayudara? (a usted)
- ¿Cómo quieres que te ayude? (a ti) / ¿Cómo quiere que le ayude? (a usted)
- ¿Cómo preferirías que te ayudara? (a ti) / ¿Cómo preferiría que le ayudara? (a usted)
- ¿Cómo te ayudo? (a ti) / ¿Cómo le ayudo? (a usted)
...


You mixed conjugation and persons, hola, so your sentence is not clear.
Your sentence seems more related to "¿cómo me gustaría ayudarte?", which rather asks "How would I like to help you?". See the difference?

[bobjenkins]

Originally Posted by tacuba

Hi Bob: Since the verb "gustar" is a verb of emotion, it does require the subjunctive in the subordinate clause, and since it is in the conditional (gustaría) it requires that the imperfect subjunctive or pluperfect subjunctive be used. Hey! I just used the subjunctive in English:>))

Gracias

¿Cómo te gustaría que te ayudara?

[gatoneo]

Por cierto no es ¿Cómo te gustaría que te ayudo?, sería ¿Cómo te gustaría que te ayude?

[irmamar]

Yo hago el tratamiento de "tú" porque es el que se suele usar en mi pais, sin olvidar que era el tratamiento usado en la pregunta. Pero cualquiera puede cambiar el tratamiento conociendo el habitual que sea en el país de que se trate. No creo que haya problemas al respecto

[laepelba]

I learned it this way: "¿En qué puedo ayudarte?" or "¿En qué puedo ayudarle?" (the former for the familiar, the latter for someone you don't know or in a store or something...) - which eliminates the use of gustar. Doesn't it mean the same?

So I would say "¿En qué puedo ayudarte?" to one of my high school students, right?

[CrOtALiTo]

I'd like to use more the sentence.

How may I help you?

Como podria ayudarte?


This is my way more polite to offer help.

[irmamar]

Originally Posted by laepelba

I learned it this way: "¿En qué puedo ayudarte?" or "¿En qué puedo ayudarle?" (the former for the familiar, the latter for someone you don't know or in a store or something...) - which eliminates the use of gustar. Doesn't it mean the same?

So I would say "¿En qué puedo ayudarte?" to one of my high school students, right?

Of course you can

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by bobjenkins

¿Cómo te gustaría que te ayudara?

Originally Posted by gatoneo

Por cierto no es ¿Cómo te gustaría que te ayudo?, sería ¿Cómo te gustaría que te ayude?

The imperfect subjunctive is used when the main verb is in a past tense or the conditional mood/tense.