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For anyone who's wondering why ”help” is in the infinitive and not a command, it's because the word for ”please” is already a command, which literally means ”goodwill”.
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I wouldn't say because it is a command, it's because it already has a tense. The main verb takes the tense the rest take the infinitive. Bonvolu manĝi mian kukon. Mi ŝatas kuri. Mi ŝatas peti helpon iam ajn mi ne povas eltrovi la kialon.
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In fact I prefer even more to say "bonvole helpu min", which is still correct.
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Certe cxi tio ankaux povas esti komprenata kiel ordo. "Have a good will to (verb)" a phrasal way to say please.
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without "bonvolu" it changes back to "helpu": so either "bonvolu helpi min" or "helpu min"
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"Mi petas" also means please. When can I use Bonvolu and when can I use, mi petas?
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It looks to me like it was formed on the model of the French "veuillez."
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Someone please tell me I ain't the only one who heard the clap of some sort at the end???
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Is this like in Spanish, where you can do "favor de ayudarme", and taking away the "favor de" necessitates the use of an imperative conjugation of ayudar?
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So then, if I understand this correctly, "Mi petas helpi min" does not employ a command with its synonym for "please" (bonvolu & mi petas) so it wouldn't be correct to use it?
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"bonvolu helpi min". It is the i-form (infinitive), because bonvolu is already in u-form (command). bonvolu literally means "have good will"
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No, not really. It's a matter of preference like "Mi ŝatas" vs "plaĉas al mi."
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I remember "Bonvolu" could also mean "You are welcome".
"You are welcome to help me." was not an accepted translation.