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Example sentences:

  1. 外の方が家の中より暖かそうです。
  2. たいふうは西の方に去った。

ty!

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In both cases, it is read as ホウ (the on'yomi).

One simple and helpful thing to realize is that the ほう reading means "direction" but the かた reading refers to either a person or way of doing something.

If you think about it, the first sentence is

外の方が家の中より暖かそうです。

"It seems warmer outside than inside the house."

たいふうは西の方に去った。

"The typhoon went to the West"

Both are directional.

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  • Ah got it, thanks Kierkegaard! I thought that was the case for the first sentence, but I was dumb enough to consult trusty google translate and it told me it was read as kata :/ ... I really should have learnt my lesson by now.
    – phosphene
    Commented Jan 14, 2016 at 7:02
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    Yes, the main lesson is -- don't trust Google translate for Japanese translation or rather "Googleは日本の翻訳に翻訳信用していません" to prove my point.
    – virmaior
    Commented Jan 14, 2016 at 7:04
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    Maybe trust something like this: guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar/comparison before we try Google Translate again. It's really not reliable at all. f>~<')
    – Pleiades
    Commented Jan 14, 2016 at 13:44

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