Grammar › How to › 〜方
〜方
"The way of doing." Hook 方 (かた) onto a verb and the action turns into a noun — how to make it, how to use it, how to read it.
The short version
Take the verb's ます-stem and add 方 (かた): 使う → 使い方 ("how to use"), 作る → 作り方 ("how to make"). The result is a full-blown noun, so it happily takes の, が, を and です.
使う → 使い方 ・ 読む → 読み方 — how to use · how to read
この漢字の読み方 — "the reading of this kanji" · の links the object
作り方 — how to make it
Recipes, instructions, "how do you do this?" — 方 is the everyday word for a method.
おいしい餃子の作り方とかね。
Like, how to make tasty gyoza. (作る → 作り方, linked with の)
It's a noun — so it acts like one
Because Vり方 is a noun, it slots anywhere a noun would. 考え方 ("way of thinking") is a classic — a whole mindset packed into one word.
その、考え方ね。
That — that way of thinking, you know. (考える → 考え方, standing as a noun)
Watch out
🗣 It teams up with わかる・教える. You'll constantly hear 方 next to "understand" and "teach": 使い方が分からない ("I don't get how to use it"), 作り方を教えて ("show me how to make it"). Casually 分からない shrinks to わかんない.
読み方わかんない。
I don't know how to read it. (読み方 + casual わかんない)
Same kanji, different word: 方(がた). Read かた it means "way of doing". But 方 read がた is a plural honorific for people — 先生方 ("the teachers"), あなた方 ("you all"). Same character, unrelated job — the reading tells them apart.
Next: お・ご — honorific prefix → · 〜をください → · All grammar
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