しかた

かた

Way of doing X
Verb ます stem + かた

方 (かた) is a special noun that attaches to ます stems and means “way of” or “how to X”.
It turns the verb into a noun. 

  • はしの使い方がわかりません – I don’t know how to use chopsticks. 
  • この漢字の読み方をしっていますか? – Do you know how to read this kanji?
  • そのやり方はよくないよ – That way of doing it isn’t good. (That isn’t a good way of doing it)

With する verbs, it looks like ~しかた (仕方)

  • トラックの運転しかた分かりますか? – Do you know how to drive a truck?
  • 勉強しかたが下手で、なかなか覚えられない – (my) way of studying is bad, so I just can’t remember.

しかた

Since しかた (from する) is a noun, we can use it as a general noun to say “method” or “way”:

  • しかたがわかりません – I don’t know how (the way) to do something. 
  • しかたがない – There’s no way to do (something). 

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