GRAMMAR DETAIL

～方

how to; way of doing

Attaches to a verb stem to turn the method or procedure for carrying out an action into a noun.

Examples

申込書の書き方を係の人に聞いた。

I asked the attendant how to fill out the application form.

この機械の使い方を店員に教えてもらいました。

A store clerk taught me how to use this machine.

先生が漢字の覚え方を教えました。

The teacher explained how to memorize the characters.

Structure: A verb's ます stem takes 方, read かた, to form a noun denoting a method.
Basic usage: 申込書の書き方を係の人に聞いた。 describes asking how to fill out an application form.

From a verb's object to a noun modifier
- 申込書を書く marks the object with を, while 申込書の書き方 uses の to modify a noun. Do not carry the verbal construction's particle over unchanged.
Form and reading
- Form it as in 使います → 使い方 and 覚えます → 覚え方. Method-marking 方 differs in reading from ほう for direction or comparison.