That is a perfect sentence, too.

Thank you, masaegu san. Now I have a question regarding the following sentences which have been puzzling me for a while now.


1. フランスで昔の日本の絵が発見されました。
An old Japanese art has been discovered in France.

2. １７００年に始めてアメリカの大統領が選ばれました。
The first president of America was choosen in the year 1700.

3. この町で国際会議が開かれます。
The international meeting is held in this city.


What I would like to know is, why is it wrong to say like the following sentences and what are the differences between both set of sentences?


1. 昔の日本の絵はフランスで発見されました。

2. 初めてアメリカの大統領は１７００年にえらばれました 。

3. 国際会議はこの町で開かれます。

Let me change the numbers for the last three sentences to 4/5/6 to avoid confusion.

1, 2 and 3 are all correct and natural.

And who said the last three were wrong?

4 is correct if the old Japanese painting has already been discussed between the speaker/writer and listener/reader. If it hasn't, then the sentence is incorrect for using は.

5 is correct unconditionally　. (but needs の after 初めて)

6 is correct if the international conference has already been mentioned.

Thanks masaegu san. My ex-先生 said that I would be wrong if I altered 1, 2, 3 to 4, 5, 6. I do not know why though. :confused:

Anyway, am I right to say that I should say "昔の日本の絵がフランスで発見されました" and "国際会議がこの町で開かれます" if the topics are discussed for the first time? :)

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"?

Strange. These are something that generally doesn't take a native speaker a second to judge. Our ears can tell instantly even before we consult our brain, so to speak. We simply cannot afford to think a minute every time we must choose between these shortest words when we must use each of them 200 times everyday.

Definitely yes because it's news for everyone.

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.
_______

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.

Just keep working hard.

This may be a rookie mistake, but I don't know whether the verb is あく or ひらく (I haven't mastered either verb). Could someone possibly enlighten me as to the answer?