Is there any difference between “How to do” and “The way to do” and “The way of doing”? Is there any preference?
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The way of doing it is rarely heard in contemporary English, and in many of the instances where the way of doing it is used, the word way does not refer to the manner, but the path one must take to do it. For example: "We plan to do a good deed, but something gets in the way of doing it.* books.google.com/ngrams/…– TᴚoɯɐuoNov 12, 2018 at 13:26
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1 Answer
Depends on what your role in the conversation is; when you want to know how something is done you usually ask
How do I do this?
Can you show me how to do this?
When you're showing someone how something is done you often go
This is the way how to do it
This is how you do it
When you're explaining to someone how something is done you often go
The way of doing that right is like this
The way of doing it like that is wrong
So basically, if you're asking for someone to show, it's "How to do" if you're showing someone how to do something, it's "the way to do" and if you're explaining how something is done or correcting the way they're doing it, it's "the way to do".
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2"The way of doing that right is this" and "The way of doing it like that" do not strike my American English ear as idiomatic. Do you hear people using the phrase like that where you live?– TᴚoɯɐuoNov 12, 2018 at 13:30
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@Tᴚoɯɐuo the question wasn't about an idiom or about an idiomatic meaning was it? This is just how I personally think the words mean and how I understand them. Do correct me if I'm wrong, these are words you use while physically showing someone something, for example "The way of doing that right is like this/ is this" would be used while showing an example physically would it not?– VeraenNov 13, 2018 at 7:33
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@Tᴚoɯɐuo fixed "the way of doing that right is this" into -> "the way of doing that right is like this" sounds a bit better, but in this case it sounds like when you come from behind or next to someone to show them, in context such as "You're doing it wrong, the way of doing that right is like this, not like you were doing it."– VeraenNov 13, 2018 at 7:58
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"idiomatic" in the sense of "something that would be said naturally by a native speaker". These are both valid ways of replying to a question about how something is done: This is how you do you it. This is the way to do it. But This is the way of doing it is not idiomatic. However, This is one way of doing it is natural. Very subtle differences can make all the difference.– TᴚoɯɐuoNov 13, 2018 at 12:04
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@Tᴚoɯɐuo that is possible, for I am not a native speaker and English is my 2nd language, I didn't exactly mean I would say them myself, merely pointed out that these are ways you could say them with the terms given in the original post, personally I would go "This is how you do it" if showing and "Mind showing how's this done?" if asking. But I see where you're coming from this, incase my answer is way off the correct I can remove if to avoid further misunderstandings.– VeraenNov 13, 2018 at 12:40