Troubled the French to get help outside (5)
I believe the answer is:
ailed
'troubled' is the definition.
('ail' can be a synonym of 'trouble')
'the french to get help outside' is the wordplay.
'the french' becomes 'le'.
'to get help' becomes 'aid' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'outside' indicates putting letters inside.
'le' going within 'aid' is 'AILED'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ailed that I've seen before include "Felt bad" , "Was ill" , "Delia (anag.)" , "was giving trouble" , "Didn't feel well" .)