How to Ask for Help in Chinese?

As individuals in the society, it’s difficult for us to deal with all affairs without any help. Especially in China, people take pleasure in helping others with a long period’s tradition. Hence, when you meet some problems or difficulties that cannot be solved by yourself, it’s better to ask for people’s help, which is the fastest way to figure out your problems.

It will be much easier to be accepted that asking people for help with a polite and gentle way, or it seems that you may not only fail to get what you want, but also get snubbed in the end, considering if you are in China.

Here we present 3 basic steps when asking strangers for help in Chinese direction:

1. Greetings to whom you asking:
　nín hǎo, xiān shēng, bào qiàn dǎ rǎo yí xià。
　您好，先生，抱歉打扰一下。
　(Hello, excuse me, sir.)

2. Introduce yourself briefly and explain your problems with polite ways:
A: wǒ shì yì míng měi guó jiāo huàn shēng, qǐng wèn hàn qiáo xué xiào zěn me zǒu?
　我是一名美国交换生，请问汉桥学校怎么走？
　(I am an American exchange student, could you please tell me the way to Hanbridge Mandarin School?)

B: nǐ hǎo！yán zhe zhè tiáo lù zhí zǒu，qián miɑn hónɡ lǜ dēnɡ yòu zhuǎn，zài zǒu mǐ jiù dào le 。
　你好！沿着这条路直走，前面红绿灯右转，再走100米就到了。
　(Hello, you could go down this street, turn right at the crossing, then walk 100 meters and you will find it.)

3. Present your appreciation to who did you a favor:
　shí fēn gǎn xiè nǐ de bāng zhù!
　十分感谢你的帮助！
　(Thanks for your help very much!)

The ways to ask for help also vary in whom you're looking for help. Given that he is a stranger you’ve never met before, we tend to ways mentioned in the text. If he is your family or one of your friends, it’s better to choose ways sounds more closely.

Here you are trying to ask for your friend’s help:

A: hēi, jí mǔ! wǒ de bǐ bú jiàn le, ké yǐ jiè nǐ de yònɡ yí xià mɑ?
　嘿，吉姆！我的笔不见了，可以借你的用一下吗？
　(Hi, Jim! I lost my pen, can I borrow yours for a second?)

B: kě yǐ, ɡěi nǐ!
　可以，给你！
　(Yes, here you are!)

A: xiè xiè!
　谢谢！
　(Thank you!)

In addition, sometimes we need to ask for help from organizations.

Here presented a situation in property management service:

A:nǐ hǎo! shì wù yè mɑ?
　你好！是物业吗？
　(Hello, is that Property Management?)

B:nǐ hǎo, shì de, qǐnɡ wèn yǒu shén me ké yǐ bānɡ nǐ?
　你好，是的，请问有什么可以帮你？
　(Hello, here is. What can do for you?)

A: wǒ shì dònɡ de zhù hù, wǒ jiā wèi shēnɡ jiān lòu shuǐ, nǐ men ké yǐ ɡuò lái xiū lǐ xià mɑ?
　我是A栋501的住户，我家卫生间漏水，你们可以过来修理下吗？
　(I am the resident in room 501 in building A, my bathroom is leaking, could you come and repair it?)

B:hǎo de，wǒ men mǎ shànɡ pài rén ɡuò qù chú lǐ 。
　好的，我马上派人过去处理。
　(Ok, I arrange for repairers for you right now.)

A: hǎo de, xiè xiè!
　好的，谢谢！
　(Ok, thank you!)

So have you get the methods to ask for help in Chinese? If you want to learn more daily Chinese, you can book a free trial lesson and let our teachers help you right now!