This is the 441st most frequent German word.
helfen
"To help"
In this sentence, 'helfen' is used in its basic meaning as 'to provide assistance to someone'. The dative case is applied to the person receiving help (meinem Freund).
Ich helfe meinem Freund mit seinen Hausaufgaben.
I help my friend with his homework.
Here, 'helfen' is used in a broader sense beyond human assistance, referring to something aiding or being useful in a task or situation, in this case the instructions.
Die Anleitung hilft uns, das Problem zu lösen.
The instructions help us solve the problem.
This sentence demonstrates a polite request for help, using the formal 'Sie' and subjunctive form for politeness.