diff --git a/example_test.go b/example_test.go
index 2e9b875..2b7ce00 100644
--- a/example_test.go
+++ b/example_test.go
@@ -250,7 +250,7 @@ func Example_helpTextWithSubcommand() {
 }
 
 // This example shows the usage string generated by go-arg when using subcommands
-func Example_helpTextForSubcommand() {
+func Example_helpTextWhenUsingSubcommand() {
 	// These are the args you would pass in on the command line
 	os.Args = split("./example get --help")
 
@@ -286,6 +286,99 @@ func Example_helpTextForSubcommand() {
 	//   --help, -h             display this help and exit
 }
 
+// This example shows how to print help for an explicit subcommand
+func Example_writeHelpForSubcommand() {
+	// These are the args you would pass in on the command line
+	os.Args = split("./example get --help")
+
+	type getCmd struct {
+		Item string `arg:"positional" help:"item to fetch"`
+	}
+
+	type listCmd struct {
+		Format string `help:"output format"`
+		Limit  int
+	}
+
+	var args struct {
+		Verbose bool
+		Get     *getCmd  `arg:"subcommand" help:"fetch an item and print it"`
+		List    *listCmd `arg:"subcommand" help:"list available items"`
+	}
+
+	// This is only necessary when running inside golang's runnable example harness
+	osExit = func(int) {}
+	stdout = os.Stdout
+
+	p, err := NewParser(Config{}, &args)
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Println(err)
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+
+	err = p.WriteHelpForSubcommand(os.Stdout, "list")
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Println(err)
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+
+	// output:
+	// Usage: example list [--format FORMAT] [--limit LIMIT]
+	//
+	// Options:
+	//   --format FORMAT        output format
+	//   --limit LIMIT
+	//
+	// Global options:
+	//   --verbose
+	//   --help, -h             display this help and exit
+}
+
+// This example shows how to print help for a subcommand that is nested several levels deep
+func Example_writeHelpForSubcommandNested() {
+	// These are the args you would pass in on the command line
+	os.Args = split("./example get --help")
+
+	type mostNestedCmd struct {
+		Item string
+	}
+
+	type nestedCmd struct {
+		MostNested *mostNestedCmd `arg:"subcommand"`
+	}
+
+	type topLevelCmd struct {
+		Nested *nestedCmd `arg:"subcommand"`
+	}
+
+	var args struct {
+		TopLevel *topLevelCmd `arg:"subcommand"`
+	}
+
+	// This is only necessary when running inside golang's runnable example harness
+	osExit = func(int) {}
+	stdout = os.Stdout
+
+	p, err := NewParser(Config{}, &args)
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Println(err)
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+
+	err = p.WriteHelpForSubcommand(os.Stdout, "toplevel", "nested", "mostnested")
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Println(err)
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+
+	// output:
+	// Usage: example toplevel nested mostnested [--item ITEM]
+	//
+	// Options:
+	//   --item ITEM
+	//   --help, -h             display this help and exit
+}
+
 // This example shows the error string generated by go-arg when an invalid option is provided
 func Example_errorText() {
 	// These are the args you would pass in on the command line
diff --git a/parse.go b/parse.go
index 13e8195..40adbe1 100644
--- a/parse.go
+++ b/parse.go
@@ -85,13 +85,13 @@ func MustParse(dest ...interface{}) *Parser {
 	err = p.Parse(flags())
 	switch {
 	case err == ErrHelp:
-		p.writeHelpForCommand(stdout, p.lastCmd)
+		p.writeHelpForSubcommand(stdout, p.lastCmd)
 		osExit(0)
 	case err == ErrVersion:
 		fmt.Fprintln(stdout, p.version)
 		osExit(0)
 	case err != nil:
-		p.failWithCommand(err.Error(), p.lastCmd)
+		p.failWithSubcommand(err.Error(), p.lastCmd)
 	}
 
 	return p
diff --git a/usage.go b/usage.go
index c121c45..e27ed5b 100644
--- a/usage.go
+++ b/usage.go
@@ -19,12 +19,27 @@ var (
 
 // Fail prints usage information to stderr and exits with non-zero status
 func (p *Parser) Fail(msg string) {
-	p.failWithCommand(msg, p.cmd)
+	p.failWithSubcommand(msg, p.cmd)
 }
 
-// failWithCommand prints usage information for the given subcommand to stderr and exits with non-zero status
-func (p *Parser) failWithCommand(msg string, cmd *command) {
-	p.writeUsageForCommand(stderr, cmd)
+// FailSubcommand prints usage information for a specified subcommand to stderr,
+// then exits with non-zero status. To write usage information for a top-level
+// subcommand, provide just the name of that subcommand. To write usage
+// information for a subcommand that is nested under another subcommand, provide
+// a sequence of subcommand names starting with the top-level subcommand and so
+// on down the tree.
+func (p *Parser) FailSubcommand(msg string, subcommand ...string) error {
+	cmd, err := p.lookupCommand(subcommand...)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	p.failWithSubcommand(msg, cmd)
+	return nil
+}
+
+// failWithSubcommand prints usage information for the given subcommand to stderr and exits with non-zero status
+func (p *Parser) failWithSubcommand(msg string, cmd *command) {
+	p.writeUsageForSubcommand(stderr, cmd)
 	fmt.Fprintln(stderr, "error:", msg)
 	osExit(-1)
 }
@@ -35,11 +50,25 @@ func (p *Parser) WriteUsage(w io.Writer) {
 	if p.lastCmd != nil {
 		cmd = p.lastCmd
 	}
-	p.writeUsageForCommand(w, cmd)
+	p.writeUsageForSubcommand(w, cmd)
 }
 
-// writeUsageForCommand writes usage information for the given subcommand
-func (p *Parser) writeUsageForCommand(w io.Writer, cmd *command) {
+// WriteUsageForSubcommand writes the usage information for a specified
+// subcommand. To write usage information for a top-level subcommand, provide
+// just the name of that subcommand. To write usage information for a subcommand
+// that is nested under another subcommand, provide a sequence of subcommand
+// names starting with the top-level subcommand and so on down the tree.
+func (p *Parser) WriteUsageForSubcommand(w io.Writer, subcommand ...string) error {
+	cmd, err := p.lookupCommand(subcommand...)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	p.writeUsageForSubcommand(w, cmd)
+	return nil
+}
+
+// writeUsageForSubcommand writes usage information for the given subcommand
+func (p *Parser) writeUsageForSubcommand(w io.Writer, cmd *command) {
 	var positionals, longOptions, shortOptions []*spec
 	for _, spec := range cmd.specs {
 		switch {
@@ -158,11 +187,25 @@ func (p *Parser) WriteHelp(w io.Writer) {
 	if p.lastCmd != nil {
 		cmd = p.lastCmd
 	}
-	p.writeHelpForCommand(w, cmd)
+	p.writeHelpForSubcommand(w, cmd)
+}
+
+// WriteHelpForSubcommand writes the usage string followed by the full help
+// string for a specified subcommand. To write help for a top-level subcommand,
+// provide just the name of that subcommand. To write help for a subcommand that
+// is nested under another subcommand, provide a sequence of subcommand names
+// starting with the top-level subcommand and so on down the tree.
+func (p *Parser) WriteHelpForSubcommand(w io.Writer, subcommand ...string) error {
+	cmd, err := p.lookupCommand(subcommand...)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	p.writeHelpForSubcommand(w, cmd)
+	return nil
 }
 
 // writeHelp writes the usage string for the given subcommand
-func (p *Parser) writeHelpForCommand(w io.Writer, cmd *command) {
+func (p *Parser) writeHelpForSubcommand(w io.Writer, cmd *command) {
 	var positionals, longOptions, shortOptions []*spec
 	for _, spec := range cmd.specs {
 		switch {
@@ -178,7 +221,7 @@ func (p *Parser) writeHelpForCommand(w io.Writer, cmd *command) {
 	if p.description != "" {
 		fmt.Fprintln(w, p.description)
 	}
-	p.writeUsageForCommand(w, cmd)
+	p.writeUsageForSubcommand(w, cmd)
 
 	// write the list of positionals
 	if len(positionals) > 0 {
@@ -252,6 +295,31 @@ func (p *Parser) printOption(w io.Writer, spec *spec) {
 	}
 }
 
+// lookupCommand finds a subcommand based on a sequence of subcommand names. The
+// first string should be a top-level subcommand, the next should be a child
+// subcommand of that subcommand, and so on. If no strings are given then the
+// root command is returned. If no such subcommand exists then an error is
+// returned.
+func (p *Parser) lookupCommand(path ...string) (*command, error) {
+	cmd := p.cmd
+	for _, name := range path {
+		var found *command
+		for _, child := range cmd.subcommands {
+			if child.name == name {
+				found = child
+			}
+		}
+		if found == nil {
+			if cmd.name == "" {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("%q is not a top-level subcommand", name)
+			}
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("%q is not a subcommand of %s", name, cmd.name)
+		}
+		cmd = found
+	}
+	return cmd, nil
+}
+
 func synopsis(spec *spec, form string) string {
 	if spec.cardinality == zero {
 		return form
diff --git a/usage_test.go b/usage_test.go
index 1b6c475..f790e34 100644
--- a/usage_test.go
+++ b/usage_test.go
@@ -352,9 +352,45 @@ Global options:
 	p.WriteHelp(&help)
 	assert.Equal(t, expectedHelp[1:], help.String())
 
+	var help2 bytes.Buffer
+	p.WriteHelpForSubcommand(&help2, "child", "nested")
+	assert.Equal(t, expectedHelp[1:], help2.String())
+
 	var usage bytes.Buffer
 	p.WriteUsage(&usage)
 	assert.Equal(t, expectedUsage, strings.TrimSpace(usage.String()))
+
+	var usage2 bytes.Buffer
+	p.WriteUsageForSubcommand(&usage2, "child", "nested")
+	assert.Equal(t, expectedUsage, strings.TrimSpace(usage2.String()))
+}
+
+func TestNonexistentSubcommand(t *testing.T) {
+	var args struct {
+		sub *struct{} `arg:"subcommand"`
+	}
+	p, err := NewParser(Config{}, &args)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	var b bytes.Buffer
+
+	err = p.WriteUsageForSubcommand(&b, "does_not_exist")
+	assert.Error(t, err)
+
+	err = p.WriteHelpForSubcommand(&b, "does_not_exist")
+	assert.Error(t, err)
+
+	err = p.FailSubcommand("something went wrong", "does_not_exist")
+	assert.Error(t, err)
+
+	err = p.WriteUsageForSubcommand(&b, "sub", "does_not_exist")
+	assert.Error(t, err)
+
+	err = p.WriteHelpForSubcommand(&b, "sub", "does_not_exist")
+	assert.Error(t, err)
+
+	err = p.FailSubcommand("something went wrong", "sub", "does_not_exist")
+	assert.Error(t, err)
 }
 
 func TestUsageWithoutLongNames(t *testing.T) {
@@ -468,3 +504,35 @@ error: something went wrong
 	assert.Equal(t, expectedStdout[1:], b.String())
 	assert.Equal(t, -1, exitCode)
 }
+
+func TestFailSubcommand(t *testing.T) {
+	originalStderr := stderr
+	originalExit := osExit
+	defer func() {
+		stderr = originalStderr
+		osExit = originalExit
+	}()
+
+	var b bytes.Buffer
+	stderr = &b
+
+	var exitCode int
+	osExit = func(code int) { exitCode = code }
+
+	expectedStdout := `
+Usage: example sub
+error: something went wrong
+`
+
+	var args struct {
+		Sub *struct{} `arg:"subcommand"`
+	}
+	p, err := NewParser(Config{Program: "example"}, &args)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	err = p.FailSubcommand("something went wrong", "sub")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	assert.Equal(t, expectedStdout[1:], b.String())
+	assert.Equal(t, -1, exitCode)
+}