Vocabulary

方(1) ほう; 2) かた)

direction; side;
>person; way of doing

ご飯(ご・はん)

rice; meal

おいしい i-adj

tasty

鈴木(すず・き)

Suzuki (last name)

若い(わか・い) i-adj

young

学生(がく・せい)

student

いい i-adj

good

赤ちゃん(あか・ちゃん)

baby

静か(しず・か) na-adj

quiet

好き(す・き) na-adj

likable; desirable

ゆっくり

slowly

食べる(た・べる) ru-verb

to eat

健康(けん・こう)

health

こちら

this way

行く(い・く) u-verb

to go

早い(はや・い) i-adj

fast; early

怖い(こわ・い) i-adj

scary

映画(えい・が)

movie

観る(み・る) ru-verb

to watch

そんな

that sort of

飲む(の・む) u-verb

to drink

The noun 方 is read as ほう when it is used to mean a direction or orientation. As an aside, it can also be read as かた when it is used as a politer version of 人.

When we use 方 to mean direction, we can use it for comparison by saying one way of things is better, worse, etc., than the other way. Grammatically, it works just like any other regular nouns.

Examples

Use it with nouns by utilizing the の particle.

1. ご飯の方がおいしい
   Rice is tastier. (lit: The way of rice is tasty.)

2. 鈴木さんの方が若い。
   Suzuki-san is younger. (lit: The way of Suzuki is young.)

Grammatically, it’s no different from a regular noun.

1. 学生じゃない方がいいよ。
   It’s better to not be a student. (lit: The way of not being student is good.)

2. 赤ちゃんは、静かな方が好き。
   Like quiet babies more. (lit: About babies, the quiet way is desirable.)

For non-negative verbs, you can also use the past tense to add more certainty and confidence, particularly when making suggestions.

1. ゆっくり食べた方が健康にいいよ。
   It’s better for your health to eat slowly.

2. こちらから行った方が早かった。
   It was faster to go from this way.

The same thing does not apply for negative verbs.

• 怖い映画は観ない方がいいよ。
  It’s better not to watch scary movie(s).

The negative verb is only in the past tense when the comparison is of something that happened in the past.

• そんなに飲まなかった方がよかった。
  It was better not to have drunk that much.

Vocabulary

方(1) ほう; 2) かた)

direction; side;
person; way of doing

花(はな)

flower

団子(だん・ご)

dango (dumpling)

ご飯(ご・はん)

rice; meal

パン(pa n)

bread

おいしい i-adj

tasty

若い(わか・い) i-adj

young

鈴木(すず・き)

Suzuki (last name)

毎日(まい・にち)

everyday

仕事(し・ごと)

job

嫌(いや) na-adj

disagreeable; unpleasant

ある u-verb

to exist (inanimate)

まし

not as bad

ゆっくり

slowly

食べる(た・べる) ru-verb

to eat

早い(はや・い) i-adj

fast; early

いい i-adj

good

You can think of より as being the opposite of 方. It means, “rather than” or “as opposed to”. It attaches directly to the back of any word. It is usually used in conjunction with 方 to say something like, “This way is better as opposed to that way.”

Examples

1. 花より団子。
   Dango rather than flowers. (This is a very famous saying.)

2. ご飯の方が、パンよりおいしい。
   Rice tastes better than bread. (lit: The rice way is tasty as opposed to bread.)

3. キムさんより鈴木さんの方が若い。
   Suzuki-san is younger than Kim-san. (lit: The way of Suzuki is young as opposed to Kim-san.)

For those curious about the meaning of the proverb, dango is a sweet doughy treat usually sold at festivals. The proverb is saying that people prefer this treat to watching the flowers, referring to the 花見 event where people go out to see the cherry blossoms (and get smashed). The deeper meaning of the proverb, like all good proverbs, depends on how you apply it.

Of course, there is no rule that より must be used with 方. The other way of things can be gleaned from context.

鈴木(すず・き) Suzuki

毎日仕事に行くのが嫌だ。

I don’t like going to work everyday.

スミス(su mi su) Smith

仕事がないよりましだよ。

It’s not as bad as opposed to not having a job.

Words associated with より do not need any tense. Notice in the following sentence that 食べる in front of より is present tense even though 食べる in front of 方 is past tense.

• ゆっくり食べた方が早く食べるよりいい。
  It is better to eat slowly as opposed to eating quickly.

Vocabulary

誰(だれ)

who

何(なに)

what

どこ

where

商品(しょう・ひん)

product

品質(ひん・しつ)

quality of a good

大切(たい・せつ) na-adj

important

する exception

to do

この

this （abbr. of これの）

仕事(し・ごと)

job

早い(はや・い) i-adj

fast; early

出来る(で・き・る) ru-verb

to be able to do

You can also use より with question words such as 誰、何、or どこ to make a superlative by comparing with everything or everybody else. In this case, though not required, it is common to include the も particle.

Examples

1. 商品の品質を何より大切にしています。
   We place value in product’s quality over anything else.

2. この仕事は誰よりも早くできます。
   Can do this job more quickly than anyone else.

Vocabulary

方(1) ほう; 2) かた)

direction; side;
person; way of doing

行く(い・く) u-verb

to go

食べる(た・べる) ru-verb

to eat

新宿(しん・じゅく)

Shinjuku

分かる(わ・かる) u-verb

to understand

そう

(things are) that way

言う(い・う) u-verb

to say

体(からだ)

body

いい i-adj

good

漢字(かん・じ)

Kanji

書く(か・く) u-verb

to write

教える(おし・える) ru-verb

to teach; to inform

くれる ru-verb

to give

パソコン(pa so ko n)

computer, PC

使う(つか・う) u-verb

to use

皆(みんな)

everybody

知る(し・る) u-verb

to know

You can also attach 方 to the stem of verbs to express a way to do that verb. In this usage, 方 is read as かた and the result becomes a noun. For example, 行き方（いきかた） means, “the way to go” or 食べ方（たべかた）means, “the way to eat”. This expression is probably what you want to use when you want to ask how to do something.

Examples

1. 新宿の行き方は分かりますか。
   Do you know the way to go to Shinjuku?

2. そういう食べ方は体によくないよ。
   Eating in that way is not good for your body.

3. 漢字の書き方を教えてくれますか？
   Can you teach me the way of writing kanji?

4. パソコンの使い方は、みんな知っているでしょう。
   Probably everybody knows the way to use PC’s.

When verbs are transformed to this form, the result becomes a noun clause. Sometimes, this requires a change of particles. For instance, while 行く usually involves a target (the に or へ particle), since 行き方 is a noun clause, example 1 becomes 新宿の行き方 instead of the familiar 新宿に行く.

Vocabulary

人(ひと)

person

話(はなし)

story

違う(ちが・う) u-verb

to be different

季節(き・せつ)

season

果物(くだ・もの)

fruit

おいしい i-adj

tasty

なる u-verb

to become

まずい i-adj

unpleasant

和子(かず・こ)

Kazuko (first name)

今日(きょう)

today

飲む(の・む) u-verb

to drink

行く(い・く) u-verb

to go

大樹(だい・き)

Daiki (first name)

それ

that

裕子(ゆう・こ)

Yuuko (first name)

When you want to say, “depending on [X]”, you can do this in Japanese by simply attaching によって to [X].

Examples

1. 人によって話が違う。
   The story is different depending on the person.

2. 季節によって果物はおいしくなったり、まずくなったりする。
   Fruit becomes tasty or nasty depending on the season.

This is simply the te-form of よる as seen by the following simple exchange.

和子(かず・こ) Kazuko

今日は飲みに行こうか？

Shall we go drinking today?

大樹(だい・き) Daiki

それは、裕子によるね。

That depends on Yuuko.

Vocabulary

天気(てん・き)

weather

予報(よ・ほう)

forecast

今日(きょう)

today

雨(あめ)

rain

友達(とも・だち)

friend

話(はなし)

story

朋子(とも・こ)

Tomoko (first name)

やっと

finally

ボーイフレンド

boyfriend

見つける(み・つける) ru-verb

to find

Another expression using よる is by using it with the target and the decided conditional と to indicate a source of information. In English, this would translate to “according to [X]” where によると is attached to [X].

Examples

1. 天気予報によると、今日は雨だそうだ。
   According to the weather forecast, I hear today is rain.

2. 友達の話によると、朋子はやっとボーイフレンドを見つけたらしい。
   According to a friend’s story, it appears that Tomoko finally found a boyfriend.