There are three common words in Hindi, प्रकार, तरह, and तरीका, that are used to discuss manner, kind, method, etc.

प्रकार

The noun प्रकार basically means “kind”, “sort”, “type”, etc.

डॉक्टर ने अपनी भाषण में भिन्न प्रकार के रोगों एंव उनके लक्षणों की चर्चा की – “The doctor discussed different kinds of diseases and their symptoms in his speech”

In this example, प्रकार was used with का to mean “kinds of …”.

Note the unusual grammar when प्रकार is used this way:

• प्रकार does not assume the oblique plural form (प्रकारों)
  
• प्रकार precedes का

Consider another example:

दो प्रकार के आदमी होते हैं – “There are two types of men”

Note that, although प्रकार refers to a plurality of men and it is followed by a postposition, it does not assume the oblique plural form (प्रकारों).

Also, in a sense, the usual word order is reversed. Usually the main noun comes after का.

Although this is a variation, it will be convenient for English speakers, since it parallels the word order of the English translation:

दो (two) प्रकार (kinds) के (of) आदमी (men)

प्रकार can be used as an adverb meaning “way”. It can optionally be used with से. For instance, it is used in a correlating adverb जिस प्रकार … उसी प्रकार.

जिस प्रकार ‘if’ शब्द का उस वाक्य में प्रयोग किया गया था उसी प्रकार ‘अगर’ शब्द का हिंदी में इस्तेमाल नहीं किया जाता – “The word ‘agar’ is not used in Hindi in the same way that the word ‘if’ was used in that sentence”

वह ऐसे प्रकार का दोस्त है जो हमेशा मेरी मदद करने के लिए तैयार है – “He’s the kind of friend who is always ready to help me”

तरह

तरह is also a noun that means “kind”, “type”, etc. It can be used in ways that are similar to the ways in which प्रकार is used.

‘तरह’ शब्द ऐसे तरह से इस्तेमाल किया जा सकता है जिस तरह ‘प्रकार’ शब्द का इस्तेमाल किया जाता है – “The word ‘tarah’ can be used in ways that are similar to the ways in which the word ‘prakar’ is used”

तरह is often used with की to form a postposition की तरह meaning “like”.

हमें आप की तरह अधिक आदमियों की ज़रूरत है – “We need more men like you”

वह अपनी माता की तरह बोलती है – “She speaks like her mother”

तरीका

तरीका is a noun that means “method” or “way”.

हमने जो शब्द सीखे हैं उन का प्रयोग करना हिंदी सिखने का एक प्रभावी तरीका है – “Using all of the words that we have learned is an effective method of learning Hindi”

उसने जिस तरीके से मुझसे बात की वह मुझे अच्छा नहीं लगा – “I didn’t like the way that he spoke to me”