帮忙

• Pinyin: bāng máng
• Hanzi breakdown: 帮 (help) + 忙 (busy) — lending a hand with tasks

Meaning

To help out; to lend a hand. A verb-object compound meaning to assist with tasks.

A separable verb-object compound (离合词). Unlike 帮, it cannot directly take another verb after it. To say 'help me buy something', use 帮我买 (not 帮忙买我). 帮忙 is often used as a general request for help without specifying the task.

Examples

1. 谢谢你帮忙！ Thanks for helping out!
2. 你能来帮忙吗？ Can you come and help?
3. 他常常帮忙做饭。 He often helps with cooking.

Usage Guide

Context: everyday, request

Tone: friendly

Do Say

• 请你帮帮忙。(Please give me a hand.)
• 谢谢你的帮忙。(Thanks for your help.)

Don't Say

• 帮忙我做作业 (Wrong word order — say 帮我做作业 instead; 帮忙 cannot directly take a person as object)

Origin & History

Compound of 帮 (help) and 忙 (busy) — helping someone who is busy, or helping out with busy work. The two characters together form a common verb-object phrase.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal