Do you know the differences between 帮助 Bang Zhu, 帮忙 Bang Mang and 帮 Bang? All these three Chinese words mean to help, to aid in English. Are there any differences? The answer is a big YES! This is especially between 帮助 bāng zhù vs 帮忙 bāng máng.
In this post, we will list out the four main differences between 帮助 Bang Zhu and 帮忙 Bang Mang.
4 main differences between Bang Zhu and Bang Mang
Difference number 1
帮助bāng zhù is a parallel structure as it is a combination of two Chinese words that are similar in meaning 帮 bāng and 助 zhù . 帮 bāng means to help, to assist in English , and 助 zhù also means to help, to assist.
帮忙 bāng máng on the other hand is a verb-object structure. 帮 is the action and 忙 is the related object of the action. 帮忙 is a separable verb, but 帮助 bāng zhù is not.
Sentence examples
只要你需要，我会尽力帮助你的。
Zhǐ yào nǐ xū yào, wǒ huì jìn lì bāng zhù nǐ de
As long as you need, I will do my best to help you.
只要你需要，我会尽力帮忙。
Zhǐ yào nǐ xū yào, wǒ huì jìn lì bāng máng.
As long as you need, I will do my best to help.
From these two sentences, we can understand that both 帮助bāng zhù and 帮忙bāng máng can be predicates in a sentence. However, there are still differences between these two. 帮忙bāng máng can be used as a predicate alone. You do not need to add anything behind 帮忙 bāng máng , just like sentence B above. Whereas for 帮助 bāng zhù , when using it as a verb, you need to add an object after it and then the predicate like in sentence A. Furthermore, 帮助 bāng zhù can be a noun but not 帮忙 bāng máng .
Example of 帮助bāng zhù as a noun
感谢你给与我们的帮助。Gǎn xiè nǐ jǐ yǔ wǒ men de bāng zhù
Thank you for your help. (Lit: thank you you giving our help)
Difference number 2
You can add 着zhe, 了le, 过guò after 帮助bāng zhù, but you cannot add 着 了 过 after 帮忙bāng máng because it is a separable verb. However, you can add in between 帮忙bāng máng .
Sentence Examples,
他在我最困难的时候帮助了我。
tā zài wǒ zuì kùn nán de shí hòu bāng zhù le wǒ.
He helped me when I was most difficult.
他在我最困难的时候帮助过我。
tā zài wǒ zuì kùn nán de shí hòu bāng zhù guò wǒ.
He helped me when I was most difficult.
他在我最困难的时候帮了我一个大忙。
tā zài wǒ zuì kùn nán de shí hòu bāng le wǒ yī gè dà máng.
He helped me a lot when I was most difficult.
Difference number 3
Overlapping structure for 帮助bāng zhù is 帮助帮助bāng zhù bāng zhù , whereas 帮忙 bāng máng is 帮帮忙 bāng bāng máng . This is to express wishes and requests in a tactful way, with a negotiating tone.
For examples,
快来帮助帮助这位大叔。
Kuài lái bāng zhù bāng zhù zhè wèi dà shū.
Come and help this uncle.
请大家帮帮忙！
Qǐng dà jiā bāng bāng máng
Everyone, please help!
Difference number 4
帮助bāng zhùis a spoken and a written language. 帮忙bāng máng is normally used as a spoken language.
Sentence Examples,
政府已经开始采取步骤帮助穷困的家庭。
Zhèng fǔ yǐ jīng kāi shǐ cǎi qǔ bù zhòu bāng zhù qióng kùn de jiā tíng.
The government has begun to take steps to help poor families. （written language）
这事很棘手，需要你的帮助。
Zhè shì hěn jí shǒu, xū yào nǐ bāng zhù. (spoken language)
This job is very tricky, I need your help.
You can use 帮助 as a verb by adding 我 after 帮助.
这事很棘手，需要你的帮助我 。
Zhè shì hěn jí shǒu, xū yào nǐ de bāng zhù wǒ.
This job is very tricky, I need you to help me.
You can also change 帮助 to 帮忙
这事很棘手，需要你的帮忙。
Zhè shì hěn jí shǒu, xū yào nǐ de bāng máng.
This job is very tricky, I need your help.
帮bāng and 帮助bāng zhù are similar in usage. The only difference is that 帮助bāng zhù is a written and spoken language. 帮 bāng is mostly used as a spoken language.
Above are the four main differences between 帮助 and 帮忙. We hope you have a better understanding between 帮助，帮忙 and 帮 after reading this post. For video presentation of this post, please click here.
