<p>帮忙 is more colloquial, it is intransitive or separable. 'A comes to help' translates into 'A来帮忙了' and 'A helps B' into 'A帮B的忙', not *'A帮忙B'.</p>

<p>帮助 is a transitive verb or a noun. 'A helps B' translates into 'A帮助B', the verb is not separated unlike 帮忙. 'With the help of A' translates into '在A的帮助下', usually not '在A的帮忙下'.</p>

<p>Another difference is that 帮忙 is always used for more concrete activities (related to its colloquial state). For instance, 'to help fight against infection' translates into '帮助对抗感染', never '帮忙对抗感染'. On the other hand, 'to help lift the box' translates into '帮忙抬箱子' more often.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-10T11:09:45.797Z
2014-05-10T11:09:45.797Z
user58955
<p>They have the same meaning. But 帮助 is more formal. 帮忙 is used more in oral Chinese. Besides, 帮忙 can't have an object while 帮助 usually have. And 帮助 can be a noun while 帮忙 cannot. Usually they are not interchangeable.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-10T07:19:51.860Z
2014-05-10T07:19:51.860Z
Wu Zhenwei
<p>帮忙 can only be used as a verb, as in "他帮忙我做事情."</p>

<p>帮助, on the other hand, can only be used as a noun, as in "他给我很多帮助."</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-12T03:40:59.787Z
That's misleading. I don't think you can use 帮忙 as 他帮忙我做事情. In fact, 忙 can be treated as an object, and there should not be any other objects (for example, 我). But "他帮我的忙", "帮我(一)个忙" or "他帮我做事情" is ok.
Wu Zhenwei
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-12T04:01:07.560Z
Or, how about, "他帮忙了我做事情."
Jason Chen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-12T08:11:07.640Z
AFAIK, that's inappropriate. If you want to use 了, "他帮我做了XX" is mostly used. "他帮了我做XX" could also be right sometimes. But using both 忙 and 我 is wrong. You can find some details from [here](http://baike.baidu.com/view/165257.htm).
Wu Zhenwei
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-10T23:53:45.117Z
2014-05-13T02:02:57.487Z
2014-05-13T02:02:57.487Z
Jason Chen
<p>帮忙->(verb+object) while 帮助 is a transitive verb or noun. I don't think it's interchangeable because their different grammar structure. 帮忙 is a fixed with an object"忙", for this we can call it 离合词. You cannot say 帮助[我的/他的]忙. However, semanticallay, 他帮我的忙。 has the same meanings as 他帮助我。(what kind of help not specified here).   </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-12T17:10:18.723Z
2014-05-12T17:10:18.723Z
macchiavalley
<p>I looked up in the dictionary, 帮 means help, and 忙 means busy while 助 also means help, so is 帮忙 (help busy) and 帮助(help help) interchangeable? Or what is the subtle difference between them? Thanks! </p>

<word-choice><meaning><vocabulary><difference>
Is 帮忙 and 帮助 interchangeable?
# Is 帮忙 and 帮助 interchangeable?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-05-10)

I looked up in the dictionary, 帮 means help, and 忙 means busy while 助 also means help, so is 帮忙 (help busy) and 帮助(help help) interchangeable? Or what is the subtle difference between them? Thanks!

**Tags:** word-choice, meaning, vocabulary, difference

---

## 4 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2014-05-10. Score: 9

帮忙 is more colloquial, it is intransitive or separable. 'A comes to help' translates into 'A来帮忙了' and 'A helps B' into 'A帮B的忙', not \*'A帮忙B'.

帮助 is a transitive verb or a noun. 'A helps B' translates into 'A帮助B', the verb is not separated unlike 帮忙. 'With the help of A' translates into '在A的帮助下', usually not '在A的帮忙下'.

Another difference is that 帮忙 is always used for more concrete activities (related to its colloquial state). For instance, 'to help fight against infection' translates into '帮助对抗感染', never '帮忙对抗感染'. On the other hand, 'to help lift the box' translates into '帮忙抬箱子' more often.


---

### Answer by username_2 on 2014-05-10. Score: 2

They have the same meaning. But 帮助 is more formal. 帮忙 is used more in oral Chinese. Besides, 帮忙 can't have an object while 帮助 usually have. And 帮助 can be a noun while 帮忙 cannot. Usually they are not interchangeable.


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2014-05-10. Score: 2

帮忙 can only be used as a verb, as in "他帮忙我做事情."

帮助, on the other hand, can only be used as a noun, as in "他给我很多帮助."

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: That's misleading. I don't think you can use 帮忙 as 他帮忙我做事情. In fact, 忙 can be treated as an object, and there should not be any other objects (for example, 我). But "他帮我的忙", "帮我(一)个忙" or "他帮我做事情" is ok.  
> **username_3**: Or, how about, "他帮忙了我做事情."  
> **username_2**: AFAIK, that's inappropriate. If you want to use 了, "他帮我做了XX" is mostly used. "他帮了我做XX" could also be right sometimes. But using both 忙 and 我 is wrong. You can find some details from [here](http://baike.baidu.com/view/165257.htm).  

---

### Answer by username_4 on 2014-05-12. Score: 1

帮忙->(verb+object) while 帮助 is a transitive verb or noun. I don't think it's interchangeable because their different grammar structure. 帮忙 is a fixed with an object"忙", for this we can call it 离合词. You cannot say 帮助[我的/他的]忙. However, semanticallay, 他帮我的忙。 has the same meanings as 他帮助我。(what kind of help not specified here).


---

