All three mean “to help” so, what’s the difference?
帮忙 [bāngmáng]
- To help.
- More informal.
- Typical structure: 请 [qǐng] /让 [ràng] + 帮忙 + verb
| Example | ||
|---|---|---|
| hanzi | pinyin | meaning |
| 爸爸让你帮忙做饭 | bàba xiǎng ràng nǐ bāngmáng zuòfàn | Dad asked you to help him make lunch |
- 帮 + somebody + 一个（大）忙: to lend somebody a hand
| Example | ||
|---|---|---|
| hanzi | pinyin | meaning |
| 明天我要帮妈妈一个忙 | míngtiān wǒ yào bāng māma yī gè máng | Tomorrow I want to lend my mother a hand |
- Since it’s a separable verb, you can’t add an object or person afterwards.
❌ 帮忙做饭 [bāngmáng zuòfàn]
❌ 帮忙妈妈 [bāngmáng māma]
- It can be used by itself.
| Example | ||
|---|---|---|
| hanzi | pinyin | meaning |
| 你快来帮忙！ | nǐ kuài lái bāngmáng | Come and help, quick! |
帮助 [bāngzhù]
- To help somebody do something.
- More formal.
- It can be a verb or a noun.
| Example | ||
|---|---|---|
| hanzi | pinyin | meaning |
| 谢谢你的帮助 | xièxiè nǐ de bāngzhù | Thank you for your help |
- As a verb, the typical structure is: 帮助 + somebody.
- Although not technically incorrect it doesn’t usually go alongside other verbs, just with the person receiving the help.
| Example | ||
|---|---|---|
| hanzi | pinyin | meaning |
| 你可以帮助我吗？ | nǐ kěyǐ bāngzhù wǒ ma | Can you help me? |
帮 [bāng]
- To help somebody do something; to do something for somebody.
- Most common in day-to-day speech.
- Typical structure: 帮 + somebody + verb + noun
| Examples | ||
|---|---|---|
| hanzi | pinyin | meaning |
| 帮我做作业 | bāng wǒ zuò zuòyè | Help me to do the homework |
| 你能帮我开门吗？ | nǐ néng bāng wǒ kāimén ma | Could you close the door for me? |
- It is usually repeated or “reduplicated” 帮帮.
Exercises
Fill in the blanks using 帮忙，帮助 or 帮:
我让了哥哥回家_____
你能过来_____吗？
我真的很需要你的_____
你可以_____我吗？
没问题，我_____你洗衣服
姐姐每天_____爸爸准备午饭
Answers
我让了哥哥回家帮忙
你能过来帮忙吗？
我真的很需要你的帮助
你可以帮助我吗？
没问题，我帮你洗衣服
姐姐每天帮爸爸准备午饭
