Vocabulary · 词汇 cíhuì

帮助

bāngzhù

The everyday word for help: the verb for helping someone do something, the noun for the help they receive, and how it differs from the lighter spoken 帮 and the separable 帮忙, which already carries its own object.

~4 min read

字源 zìyuán Etymology & Structure

字源洞见 zìyuán dòngjiàn · Etymological Insight

帮 bāng (to help, also "a side, a gang") combines a phonetic element with 巾 jīn (cloth), and its everyday sense is to lend support, to stand alongside. 助 zhù means "to assist, to aid," built from 力 lì (strength, a plough straining) beside 且 qiě: to add one's strength to another's. Together 帮助 doubles the idea, "to support and to aid," the full word for helping.

The 助 of adding strength appears across a useful family: 帮助 (to help), 协助 xiézhù (to assist, cooperatively), 援助 yuánzhù (aid, relief), 资助 zīzhù (to fund, to sponsor), 助手 zhùshǒu (an assistant), 无助 wúzhù (helpless). All turn on lending one's 力 (strength) to another, the quiet social glue of mutual aid.

帮助 bāngzhù The Core Word

帮助 bāngzhù to help; help, assistance

V/N 动名 dòngmíng

As a verb, to help a person, optionally followed by what you help them do: 帮助 + someone ( + action). As a noun, the help itself. A normal transitive verb, so the person helped comes straight after it: 帮助我 ("help me"). It is the standard word in writing and the natural choice for the noun "help."

谢谢你的帮助。

Xièxie nǐ de bāngzhù.

Thank you for your help.

老师常常帮助学生。

Lǎoshī chángcháng bāngzhù xuésheng.

The teacher often helps the students.

这本书对我很有帮助。

Zhè běn shū duì wǒ hěn yǒu bāngzhù.

This book is very helpful to me.

用法 yòngfǎ Patterns — Helping Someone Do Something

帮助 in use · the core patterns Subject + 帮助 + Person , 我帮助他 · I help him
帮助 + Person + Action , 帮助他学中文 · help him learn Chinese
谢谢…的帮助 , thank … for the help (noun)
对…有帮助 , 对身体有帮助 · is good for / helps the body
需要帮助 , to need help

对…有帮助 duì… yǒu bāngzhù to be helpful to; to do good for

A high-frequency frame: 对 (toward / for) + the beneficiary + 有帮助 ("has help"), to describe something beneficial. 多运动对健康有帮助 ("exercising more is good for your health"). The degree can be scaled: 很有帮助 ("very helpful"), 没什么帮助 ("not much help").

练习对学习语言很有帮助。

Liànxí duì xuéxí yǔyán hěn yǒu bāngzhù.

Practice is very helpful for learning a language.

帮 / 帮忙 bāng / bāngmáng to help; to lend a hand

The colloquial cousins. 帮 is the light one-syllable verb that takes a person directly: 帮我一下 ("give me a hand"). 帮忙 is a separable verb-object ("help" + "a busy task") meaning to do a favor, and because it already has its own object 忙, it cannot take another one right after it: say 帮个忙 or 帮我的忙, never 帮忙我.

你能帮我一个忙吗？

Nǐ néng bāng wǒ yí ge máng ma?

Can you do me a favor?

辨析 biànxī Help, Lend a Hand, Do a Favor

辨析 biànxī · Distinguishing the Words

Three close words mean "help," and the grammar, not just the feel, sets them apart. 帮助 bāngzhù is the full, standard verb and the word for the noun "help." It is plainly transitive: the person helped follows directly, 帮助我做这件事 ("help me do this"). 帮 bāng is the light, spoken short form, equally transitive but more casual, the one you hear most in conversation: 帮我拿一下 ("grab that for me").

帮忙 bāngmáng is the tricky one. It is a separable verb-object, literally "help" plus "a busy matter," so it already carries an object inside it. You cannot say 帮忙我; instead the person becomes a possessor or the favor is counted: 帮我的忙 ("help me out"), 帮个忙 ("do a favor"), or simply 请帮忙 ("please help out") with no object at all. A quick rule of thumb: if a person follows directly, use 帮助 or 帮; if you mean "lend a hand / do a favor" with no direct person-object, use 帮忙.

成语 chéngyǔ Set Phrases

助人为乐 zhù rén wéi lè to take joy in helping others Literally "to help others as one's joy," to find genuine pleasure in aiding people. A prized social virtue, often used to praise the selflessly helpful. Built on 助 (to aid), the same character at the heart of 帮助.

守望相助 shǒu wàng xiāng zhù to watch out for and help one another From the Mencius: neighbors keeping watch and lending aid to each other, the ideal of a community that protects its own. 守望 (to keep watch) + 相助 (to help one another). Invoked for solidarity in hard times.

爱莫能助 ài mò néng zhù willing but unable to help Literally "to love but be unable to aid," used when you sympathize and would gladly help, but cannot. A gracious, slightly rueful way to decline: 我也想帮你，可惜爱莫能助 ("I'd like to help, but sadly it's beyond me"). The 助 again is the aid of 帮助.