both

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 両 has six strokes, means both or both sides, and is read りょう.
• Basic usage: 両手 refers to both hands, 両親 to both parents, and 両方 to both of two things.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Both versus either
  • 両方, read りょうほう, includes both members of a pair.
  • 赤い帽子と青い帽子を両方買った means that both the red and blue hats were bought, not that one was chosen.
• The two sides of a pair
  • 両手, read りょうて, refers to a person's two hands.
  • It expresses both sides of a pair, not just the abstract number two.
• 両 in vehicles
  • 車両, read しゃりょう, means a vehicle or a railcar.
  • 最後尾の車両 means the last railcar; the presence of 両 does not necessarily mean two vehicles.