The invention provides an etching method. The method comprises providing a substrate, forming an etching material layer on the substrate, forming hard masks, which comprises a second hard mask and a first hard mask successively formed on the etching material layer, on the etching material layer, enabling the first hard mask to be graphical, forming a pattern in the first hard mask, enabling part of the second hard mask to be exposed, etching the second hard mask taking the first hard mask as a mask, transferring the pattern onto the second hard mask, and etching the material layer taking the second hard mask, having the pattern, as the mask. The etching method is advantageous in that, compared with a mode that hard masks are etched completely by utilizing first photoresist in the prior art, the etching method reduces the etched degree of the first photoresist, and then the problem that the patterns formed in the hard masks are not precise enough due to the too thin first photoresist is prevented as far as possible.