I have a question about a kanji in a sentence and the proper way to read it:
It's about someone giving someone else an advice on how to get a girl interested in him. Do we read 方 here as かた or as ほう? And is the proper translation something along the lines of 'it's not about you, look for/think about all of her good qualities and tell her about them, and it should go well'?
Thanks in advance!
It definitely has to be ほう because the person is telling the one who wants advice
instead of this (じゃなく
）, do this. ほう・方 is comparison/preference.
方 in terms of method, must have a preceding verb stem for it to be said method.
Examples include:
使い方 － How to use/ method of using
食べ方 － How to eat / method of eating
読み方 － How to read / method of reading
Grammatically, the biggest indicator for it to be ほう is what transpires after it. You mention that it's about someone giving advice so 方 has to relate to advice.
Literally, the translation from left to right can be broken down as:
Instead of you (me), find and convey good points about the girl to better succeed.
The most English translation for the sentence you gave would be:
Instead of talking about your own good qualities, talk about hers and you'll do well.
方 can also mean person but that's a different story altogether and is used in more formal situations. 次の方どうぞ, for example.
