助ける or 手伝う

[rogers3969]

In studying the 2000 word list, number 6 is listed as 助ける　but most of the sample sentence use 手伝う。Was it meant to be this way? Thank you.

[Psy]

The short answer is that 助ける means to help or save someone who's really in trouble (e.g. screaming out the window of a burning building) and 手伝う is just to help out with something (e.g. Japanese homework.). The longer answer is that there is some overlap, and that 手伝う emphasizes one's coming together to achieve a goal that could have been achieved alone, whereas 助ける is for lending a hand where the other person may not be able to do something himself. For instance, you can both 宿題を助ける and 宿題を手伝う with your child's homework, but there is a difference in nuance.

[rogers3969]

わかりました。ありがとうございます。