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masaegu (Offline)
永遠の愛
 
Posts: 2,573
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Central Tokyo
11-26-2010, 02:02 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by Maxful View Post
By the way, masaegu san. I just come across this verb ”取り替えます” from my textbook and it stated that the meaning is "exchange", but somehow I feel that "replace" will be more appropriate for this verb. What do you think?

And also, what are the differences between "助けます" and "手伝います"?
I kind of agree with you on 取り替える because when you 取り替える something, you usually replace it by a new/better/cleaner one.

However, we don't use the word "replace" when talking about something like currency exchange. So we need a few words for the translation.
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The difference between 助ける and 手伝う is fairly important as they are seldom interchangeable. In my own oservation for the last couple of decades, Japanese-learners tend to use 助ける way too often.  

手伝う is used when you help another person perform a job. It's lending a hand, assisting, etc.

助ける, on the other hand, is usually much more serious. It's saving and recuing people from what can be a dangerous situation.
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