cry for help
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cry for help
A loud call or scream from a person who is in an emergency or danger and urgently needs help.
Die Bergsteiger hörten in der Ferne einen leisen Hilferuf.
The mountaineers heard a faint cry for help in the distance.
The word is built very logically and consists of 'Hilfe' (help) and 'Ruf' (call). So it literally describes a call with which someone asks for help.
Plötzlich hörte man einen lauten Hilferuf aus dem Wald.
Suddenly, a loud cry for help could be heard from the forest.
A 'Hilferuf' (cry for help) is often combined with certain verbs. You can 'einen Hilferuf ausstoßen' (let out a cry for help), 'einen Hilferuf hören' (hear a cry for help from someone else), or 'einen Hilferuf absetzen' (send out a call for help, e.g. by radio).
Der verletzte Wanderer stieß einen lauten Hilferuf aus.
The injured hiker let out a loud cry for help.
In a figurative sense, a 'Hilferuf' (cry for help) is not necessarily loud. It is often described with adjectives like 'stumm' (silent), 'leise' (quiet), or 'verzweifelt' (desperate) to show that someone is asking for support nonverbally or indirectly.
Ihre ständigen Absagen waren ein stummer Hilferuf, den niemand verstand.
Her constant cancellations were a silent cry for help that no one understood.
help
'die Hilfe' and 'der Hilferuf' are closely connected because both are about support. 'Hilfe' can mean the help itself, or it can be used as an exclamation in a dangerous situation. 'Hilferuf' means the call, signal, or statement with which someone asks for help. This can be loud in an emergency, or figurative, when someone shows through their behavior that they need support. Learners may confuse the words because 'Hilfe!' sounds like a cry for help. Remember: 'Hilfe' is the support or the exclamation; 'Hilferuf' is the request or signal for support.
In der Nacht hörten die Nachbarn einen Hilferuf aus dem Treppenhaus.
During the night, the neighbors heard a cry for help from the stairwell.
Im Kurs bitte ich die Lehrerin um Hilfe, wenn ich die Aufgabe nicht verstehe.
In the course, I ask the teacher for help when I do not understand the task.