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I was brushing up on some basic vocabulary. Asked what the Japanese equivalent
of "the means (of doing something)", I would use 方法. However, they've used 手段.
As far as I can tell, these are (fairly) synonymous. Is there a difference?
Are there places/phrases where you would use one but not the other?
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2014-02-18T04:21:58.387
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2014-02-18T14:51:57.160
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question
word-choice words
Difference between 方法 and 手段
I have always got by taking 方法 as method or "way of doing" and 手段 as "a
means": As Tokyo Nagoya says, there is some overlap but if you know when to
use method and means in English then try to do the same in Japanese.

(Hint: I think 方法 is the easiest to adopt. You could leave 手段 until after you
have heard it used more.)
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2014-02-18T08:59:39.213
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