帮

幫
bāng
verb HSK 2 #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 2
Wǒ bāng nǐ ná dōngxi.
I'll help you carry things.

Tips

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

Components

radical
巾 jīn
cloth
Bottom indexing cloth radical 巾 - pictograph of a piece of cloth hung over a horizontal bar. 帮 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
邦 bāng
country; group (here phonetic)
Top 邦 supplies the sound (bāng → bāng, identical). 邦 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 邦 lends a strong semantic flavor of group action. Same phonetic family: 梆 (clapper), 绑 (tie), 榜 (list).

Stroke Order

帮 bāng