bāng
verb HSK 1 #136

Meanings

  1. 1 to help
  2. 2 to assist

Examples

HSK 1
Nǐ néng bāng wǒ ma?
Can you help me?
HSK 1
Xièxie nǐ bāng wǒ.
Thank you for helping me.
HSK 1
Wǒ bāng nǐ ná dōngxi.
I'll help you carry things.

Tips

grammar
takes a direct object for the person helped: (help me), (help him). You can add a second verb for the specific action: (help me buy).

Components

radical
jīn
cloth
Bottom indexing cloth radical - pictograph of a piece of cloth hung over a horizontal bar. originally referred to the leather or cloth side-piece of a shoe (鞋帮); from "side-support" the meaning generalized to "lending support, helping." The cloth radical preserves this original concrete sense.
phonetic
bāng
country; group (here phonetic)
Top supplies the sound (bāng → bāng, identical). itself means "country, group, clan" - and here it is more than just phonetic: helping in classical thought meant joining forces with one's clan, so lends a strong semantic flavor of group action. Same phonetic family: (clapper), (tie), (list).

Stroke Order

bāng