Asking for Help in Chinese: Phrases for Errands and Emergencies

There is a moment most learners remember: something goes wrong — a wrong turn, a wrong number on a bill, a phone that will not do the thing — and their entire Chinese vanishes. What makes that moment survivable is not vocabulary breadth. It is having five or six phrases drilled so thoroughly that they come out even when everything else has gone. This guide is built around exactly those: getting someone’s attention politely, admitting you have not understood without it being the end of the conversation, asking someone to slow down or write something down, asking for directions and prices, handling a genuine problem, and — because it matters — the handful of phrases that get emergency attention fast. Every one of them is short, every one of them works even with imperfect tones, and together they cover the overwhelming majority of situations in which you will need strangers to be kind to you.

Last reviewed: September 2026 · Part of our Learn Chinese guide series.

Three pieces you will use every single day

Politeness here is not decoration; it is what opens a stranger’s attention. Skipping it does not make you impolite so much as strange-sounding, as if you had started a sentence in another language halfway through. Three pieces carry most of the load.

Chinese	Pinyin	What it does
请问	qǐng wèn	Literally ‘may I ask’ — the universal opener for any question to a stranger. Put it in front of everything until it becomes a reflex.
不好意思	bù hǎoyìsi	‘Sorry to trouble you’ / ‘excuse me’. Smaller than 对不起 and better suited to everyday interruption — bumping past someone, asking them to move, or catching their attention.
谢谢	xièxie	Thank you — optionally 谢谢你 (xièxie nǐ). Say it even for things people are paid to do; it is ordinary courtesy, not a favour.
麻烦你了	máfan nǐ le	‘Sorry to put you to trouble’ — closing move after someone has helped. This one phrase does most of the work of sounding like a decent person.
没关系	méi guānxi	‘It’s nothing’ — the reply when someone thanks you for helping.

Getting someone’s attention without sounding rude

Different from English in one important way: there is no single universal word for addressing a stranger politely, and calling out ‘excuse me’ the way you might at home is not idiomatic. Use 请问 before a question, 不好意思 to physically get past or to break into someone’s attention, and then say your sentence.

For specific people, it is normal to use a role word rather than their name — this is not brusque, it is how the language addresses people. 服务员 (fúwùyuán) for waitstaff, 师傅 (shīfu) for a driver, cab driver or anyone fixing something, 老板 (lǎobǎn) informally for a shop owner, 同学 (tóngxué) for a fellow student, and 老师 (lǎoshī) for a teacher — which here also extends generously to older strangers who might be able to help.

When you do not understand: the loop that keeps conversations alive

This is the most important skill in the whole guide, because the point where most beginners’ conversations die is not vocabulary — it is that they nod, smile and stop participating. Admitting you did not follow is not a failure. It is the normal way these conversations work, once you have the words for it.

1. 听不懂 (tīng bù dǒng) — I don’t understand what you said. Say it gently, with a small apologetic gesture; people will almost always try again rather than walk away.
2. 请再说一遍 (qǐng zài shuō yí biàn) — please say it once more. The standard follow-up, and often the only one you need.
3. 请慢一点 (qǐng màn yìdiǎn) — please speak slightly more slowly. More useful than ‘louder’, because speaking up does not help anyone whose problem is speed.
4. …是什么意思 (…shì shénme yìsi) — what does … mean. Drop the word you missed in front of it.
5. 可以写下来吗 (kěyǐ xiě xiàlái ma) — can you write it down. This is the escape hatch: written Chinese bypasses every listening problem you have, and most people are happy to comply.
6. Have your phone ready to receive characters in a note rather than on paper, which has saved more conversations than any single phrase in this guide.

Help with directions and transport

Asking where something is, and — the harder part — understanding the answer. The trick is to ask questions that can be answered with a direction word you already know, rather than an open-ended description of how to get there.

Chinese	Pinyin	What it means / gets you
……在哪里	… zài nǎlǐ	Where is … — the workhorse question. Drop the place name in front.
怎么走	zěnme zǒu	How do I get there — asks for the route rather than the location
近吗	jìn ma	Is it near — yes/no answer, which means you can actually understand the reply
走路要多久	zǒulù yào duōjiǔ	How long on foot — the answer is usually a number of minutes
往前走 / 左转 / 右转	wǎng qián zǒu / zuǒ zhuǎn / yòu zhuǎn	Go straight / turn left / turn right — the three words most likely to appear in any answer you receive
我要去这里	wǒ yào qù zhèlǐ	I want to go here — with a map or screenshot, simpler than saying the address aloud

Pointing at your destination on a map while saying one of these is entirely normal behaviour and works better than either maps or Mandarin alone. Nobody finds it strange.

Shopping, prices and when something is wrong

Most shopping problems you will meet are one of three: the price is unclear, the item is wrong, or you want to pay with something they do not take. Each has a short answer.

• 多少钱 (duōshao qián) — how much. The single most-used question you will learn.
• 太贵了 (tài guì le) — too expensive. Say it pleasantly; in markets without fixed prices it opens negotiation rather than ending it.
• 便宜一点可以吗 (piányi yìdiǎn kěyǐ ma) — can you do it a little cheaper. Polite, effective, and expected at markets.
• 可以换吗 (kěyǐ huàn ma) — can I exchange this.
• 可以用微信 / 支付宝吗 (… Wēixìn / Zhīfùbǎo ma) — can I pay by the usual apps. Worth asking before you commit if you are out of cash.
• 不要了，谢谢 (bú yào le, xièxie) — I don’t want it, thanks. Complete, final and not rude, useful everywhere from markets to pushy stalls.

Emergencies: short words, said loudly

This is the section worth reading twice. In an emergency nobody is assessing your tones or your grammar. What you need are short, loud, unmistakable words, and — if there is any doubt at all — the emergency numbers your university gave you.

Situation	Say this	Pinyin
Immediate danger, any kind	救命	jiùmìng — help (literally ‘save life’). Say it loudly and repeatedly
Need police	帮我报警	bāng wǒ bàojǐng — help me call the police
Need an ambulance	帮我叫救护车	bāng wǒ jiào jiùhùchē
Lost	我迷路了	wǒ mílù le — I’m lost
Lost property or stolen wallet	我的钱包丢了	wǒ de qiánbāo diū le — my wallet is gone
Need an English speaker	有人会说英语吗	yǒu rén huì shuō Yīngyǔ ma
I need a doctor	我要看医生	wǒ yào kàn yīshēng
It hurts here	这里疼	zhèlǐ téng — say it while pointing

Additionally: 我不舒服 (wǒ bù shūfu) means ‘I feel unwell’ and covers an enormous amount of ground in clinics and canteens alike. And pointing at the part that hurts, which requires no language at all, is frequently the most efficient thing available to you.

How to be helped well

One last thing, and it is the difference between people helping you once and people helping you happily. Accept help without excessive apology for your Mandarin — apologising at length puts them in the position of having to reassure you, which is work. A single 谢谢 and 麻烦你了 closes the interaction cleanly and leaves everybody comfortable.

And offer help back when you can. Being the foreigner who occasionally guides someone to the right platform, or translates a sign, or helps with an English phrase, is the fastest way to stop being a recipient and start being a neighbour.

Sources

• Standard Mandarin pinyin romanisation and tone sandhi for bú yào, bù and yì
• Common emergency numbers and procedures as published by Chinese universities for international students; always use the numbers your own institution provides
• The China Helper phrases, pinyin, healthcare and transport guides (internal, September 2026)

Disclaimer: Rules, prices and platform features in China change frequently and can vary by city, institution and individual circumstances. Always confirm with the relevant authority or provider before making arrangements.