帮忙
to help; to do a favor
bāngmáng
What does 帮忙 mean?
帮忙 (bāngmáng) means 'to help (out)' or 'to do a favor' — the everyday word for lending someone a hand. Grammatically it is a so-called 'separable verb': 帮 ('help') + 忙 ('busy work / a busy task'), and the two halves can split apart. You say 帮一个忙 ('do a favor'), 帮了我一个大忙 ('did me a big favor'), 帮过他几次忙 ('helped him out a few times').
Because 忙 is already the noun-like object, you cannot add another object directly after 帮忙 — say 帮我做饭 ('help me cook') not 帮忙我做饭. Compared with 帮助 (bāngzhù), 帮忙 is more casual, hands-on, and spoken; 帮助
Character breakdown
to help; to assist
busy; busy task
Memory hook: Literally 'help + busy' — when someone is busy, you step in and help.
Example sentences
你能帮我一个忙吗？
Nǐ néng bāng wǒ yí gè máng ma?
Can you do me a favor?
spoken, polite
谢谢你的帮忙。
Xièxie nǐ de bāngmáng.
Thanks for your help.
spoken
我下午有时间，可以帮忙。
Wǒ xiàwǔ yǒu shíjiān, kěyǐ bāngmáng.
I'm free in the afternoon, I can help out.
spoken
他真的帮了我大忙。
Tā zhēn de bāng le wǒ dà máng.
He really did me a huge favor.
spoken
需要帮忙的时候，叫我。
Xūyào bāngmáng de shíhou, jiào wǒ.
Call me whenever you need help.
spoken