Verb 帮 (bāng) – To Help Someone Do Something

Pattern

• Subject + 帮 + Person + Verb phrase
• Subject + 帮 + Person + 一下

Usage

• The verb 帮 (bāng) translates as “to help” or “to assist”, and represents one of the most practical everyday words in HSK 2 communication.
• The prevalent structure is: Subject + 帮 + Person + Verb phrase + (Object), as seen in: 我帮妈妈做饭 ('I help mother cook meals').
• In grammatical terms, this also acts as a pivotal construction because the person helped serves both as the recipient of assistance and the subject of the action being performed.
• Additionally, Chinese features the formal disyllabic counterpart 帮助 (bāngzhù), which also means “help” but carries a more solemn, formal register (e.g., 我帮助他学习汉语).

Examples

1. 1

   我帮妈妈做饭。

   Wǒ bāng māma zuò fàn.

   I help mother cook.

2. 2

   请你帮我一下。

   Qǐng nǐ bāng wǒ yíxià.

   Please give me a hand.

3. 3

   他常常帮助别人。

   Tā chángcháng bāngzhù biérén.

   He often helps other people.

4. 4

   你能帮我买一杯咖啡吗?