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帮忙 (bāng máng) — to help, to do a favor

Definition

帮忙 (bāng máng) is a casual, everyday 'do a favor / give a hand' — often used as a request or a small favor. Unlike 帮助, it is more colloquial and often takes a person as object (帮你的忙).

verb
to helpto do a favor

Examples

  • ？
    Nǐ néng bāng gè máng ma?
    Can you do me a favor?
  • 帮忙。
    Tā jīng cháng gěi péng you bāng máng.
    He often helps his friends.
  • 帮忙？
    Nǐ bāng máng yí xià hǎo ma?
    Can you help for a moment?

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

帮bānghelp
忙mángbusy task

帮 is to assist, while 忙 refers to a busy task; together they mean lending a hand.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 幫; 帮 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
帛帛bósilk
Sound part声符shēngfú
封
封fēng幫bāng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 帮's traditional form 幫, 帛 (silk) gives the meaning and 封 gives the sound; it originally named the upper part of a shoe.

Open 帮 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
忄Written in full as心xīn
Sound part声符shēngfú
亡
亡wáng忙máng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

忙 pairs 忄 (heart) with 亡, which gives the sound.

Open 忙 →

Grammar

Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 2HSK 2.0 Level 31000 Most Frequent Chinese WordsFriends & Social2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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