帮
bāng
One more hand slipping under someone else's load: 帮
The picture Someone is holding a load alone, and your hand slides in underneath to take part of it. 帮 adds your hand beside theirs; 替 steps into their place and does it instead.
Where the picture shows up in 帮
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asking for a hand
你能帮我一下吗？
nǐ néng bāng wǒ yí xià ma
Could you give me a hand?
A box tilting in one person's arms as they turn to the next person, palm open
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carrying it for them
我帮你拿行李。
wǒ bāng nǐ ná xíng li
Let me take your luggage.
Your hand reaching the suitcase handle first and closing around it
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pitching into busy work
他帮忙搬了三趟。
tā bāng máng bān le sān tàng
He pitched in and carried three loads.
Two people crossing the room three times until the stacked boxes are gone
帮忙 names the whole favor or effort
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opening a request
请帮我翻译一下这句话。
qǐng bāng wǒ fān yì yí xià zhè jù huà
Please translate this sentence for me.
Turning the phone screen toward the other person and tapping one line with a finger
帮我 comes first, then the task you want
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when a thing helps
这个办法帮了我很多。
zhè ge bàn fǎ bāng le wǒ hěn duō
This method helped me a lot.
A method written on paper propping up the load on your shoulder from below
All of it in one picture
帮 is one more hand going under a load that is not yours. Ask for that hand under your own box and it becomes a request; move your hand to their suitcase handle and it becomes carrying for them. Hands going back and forth over a pile of work is 帮忙, and when it is not a person but a method that slides under the weight, that is 帮 too. That is why a favor in Chinese almost always opens with 帮我.