Does this make sense? He helped me by the arms. vs He helped me buy the arms.

[Gray]

He helped me by the arms.

He helped me buy the arms.

Quite difficult to differentiate in spoken English, isn't it? :)
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First lesson - English, not english. I, not i. ~A student of English

[Prezbucky]

I've never heard the first until now. IMO, while still fairly rare, the second (at least) makes sense.

Check this out... evidence for why the apostrophe must continue to be used:

- The dog's bone
- The dogs bone

Without the apostrophe, it might (might!) be tough to tell those phrases apart.

hehe
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Billie Jean is not my lover. Hee.

[Gray]

[Kitosdad]

I think he was referring to helping someone to stand from a seated position.

" He helped me ( to my feet ) by the arms. "

Kitosdad.
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Keep it simple ... Keep it interesting.

[Prezbucky]

Yeah, just that the phrase "by the arms" seems rare. Ugh. I need to re-read Great Expectations.
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Billie Jean is not my lover. Hee.