「帮」 "bāng"
「帮」（"bāng"）means “帮: to help (someone do something)”. 帮 means 'help' and is followed by the person helped, optionally plus what you help them do: '帮 + person (+ verb phrase)'. Formation: 主语 + 帮 + 人 + （动词短语）
帮: to help (someone do something)
HSK2Formation
主语 + 帮 + 人 + （动词短语）
Explanation
帮 means 'help' and is followed by the person helped, optionally plus what you help them do: '帮 + person (+ verb phrase)'. Used alone it just means help someone (帮我一下 help me a moment); with a verb it says what the help is (帮妈妈做饭 help mom cook). The person comes right after 帮. 帮忙 ('do a favor') is a set verb-object phrase and does not take a further object directly.
Examples
Note
Person goes right after 帮: 帮我一下 / 帮妈妈做饭. Note 帮忙 is a fixed verb-object; can't say 帮忙我 (say 帮我 or 帮我的忙).
FAQ
「帮」 — what does it mean and how is it used?
帮: to help (someone do something). 帮 means 'help' and is followed by the person helped, optionally plus what you help them do: '帮 + person (+ verb phrase)'. Used alone it just means help someone (帮我一下 help me a moment); with a verb it says what the help is (帮妈妈做饭 help mom cook). The person comes right after 帮. 帮忙 ('do a favor') is a set verb-object phrase and does not take a further object directly.
「帮」 — how do you form it?
主语 + 帮 + 人 + （动词短语）
「帮」 — any usage notes?
Person goes right after 帮: 帮我一下 / 帮妈妈做饭. Note 帮忙 is a fixed verb-object; can't say 帮忙我 (say 帮我 or 帮我的忙).