Posted by rfvv on Wednesday, April 1, 2015 at 4:10pm.
1. What a messy room! Can you give me a hand cleaning it, Matt?
2. What a messy room! Can you give me a hand which will clean it, Matt?
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Does #1 mean #2?
•English - Writeacher, Wednesday, April 1, 2015 at 4:14pm
#1 is correct.
#2 is incorrect.
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1. What a messy room! Can you give me a hand cleaning it, Matt?
3. What a messy room! Can you give me a hand while you clean it, Matt?
(Does #1 mean #3? Thank you for your help.)
3 is not correct.
In the first sentence, you're looking for help in cleaning the room.
"Give me a hand" means "help me."
#1 and #3 have similar meanings but there is a slight difference in how they are expressed.
In #1, "Can you give me a hand cleaning it, Matt?" the speaker is asking Matt for help in cleaning the messy room. The phrase "give me a hand" is an idiomatic expression meaning to provide assistance. The speaker is essentially asking Matt to help them with the task of cleaning the room.
In #3, "Can you give me a hand while you clean it, Matt?" the speaker is also asking Matt for help with cleaning the room, but the phrase "give me a hand" is followed by "while you clean it." This suggests that the speaker is asking Matt to clean the room while the speaker assists or provides additional help in some way.
So, in #1 the speaker is directly asking for Matt's assistance in cleaning the room, while in #3 the speaker is asking for Matt's assistance while he himself is cleaning the room.
To summarize, #1 and #3 have similar meanings but differ slightly in how they express the request for help.