asistir
verbCEFR B2
What does “asistir” mean in English?
to assist someone
to assist someone (asistir a alguien — formal professional or institutional support)
Example sentences
El centro de apoyo asiste a las familias con niños en situación de vulnerabilidad social.
The support centre assists families with children in socially vulnerable situations.
Un equipo de traductores asistió a los delegados extranjeros durante las sesiones de negociación.
A team of translators assisted the foreign delegates during the negotiating sessions.
La misión humanitaria fue enviada para asistir a la población afectada por el desastre natural.
The humanitarian mission was sent to assist the population affected by the natural disaster.
How to use it
Asistir has two distinct meanings that learners must separate. (1) Asistir a = to attend (asistir a una reunión, asistir al evento). (2) Asistir a alguien = to assist / help someone (formally). Sense 2 is the B2 'assist' meaning and is common in formal, professional, and institutional contexts: asistir a los afectados (assist those affected), asistir al paciente (assist the patient). Without a, asistir takes a direct object for sense 2 but is typically expressed as asistir a alguien en algo. Note: the 'attend' sense (asistir a) is B1; the 'assist' sense is the B2 focus here.
Common mistake
Learners often confuse the two senses of asistir: asistir a (attend) vs. asistir a alguien (assist someone). Both use the preposition a, which can be confusing. Context disambiguates: if the object is a person, it means assist; if it is an event/meeting, it means attend. Also: asistir (assist) is more formal than ayudar — in spoken Spanish, ayudar is the natural choice; asistir implies professional or institutional support.