がち | Grammar

Structure

[verb ます-stem] + がち [noun] + がち〜がち + だ / です〜がち + な + [noun] 〜がち + に + [verb]

Description

がち means "tend to", "be prone to", and the tendency is almost always unwelcome: forgetting, being late, falling ill. It goes on a verb's ます-stem or straight after a noun.

。

He tends to be late for meetings.

、。

When I'm busy, I tend to forget breakfast.

、。

She was often ill as a child.

The verb goes in the ます-stem, not the dictionary form.

× 忘れるがち → 忘れがち

Before a noun, and as an adverb

がち behaves like a な-adjective: it takes な before a noun and に before a verb.

。

In winter the weather is often cloudy for days.

。

She began to speak a little hesitantly.

"reserved, hesitant" is one of the few where the tendency isn't bad.

がち, 気味 and やすい

がち says something happens again and again, as a habit. きみ気味 says a state is showing a little, right now. やすい says something is easy to do or easily happens, and it can be good or bad.

。

I tend to catch colds in winter.

、。

I've got a bit of a cold at the moment.

。

This book is easy to understand.

× この本は分かりがちだ → この本は分かりやすい

Usage notes

These go beyond a person's habits.

なりがち

"tends to become" is the commonest of all, for something that slides into a bad state.

、。

When you live alone, your meals tend to get irregular.

ありがち

means "typical", "all too common", often of a mistake or a cliché.

。

This kind of mistake is all too common.

Examples

。

He tends to be late for meetings.

、。

Lately, I tend to not get enough exercise.

、。

When I'm busy, I tend to forget to eat breakfast.

。

In winter, cloudy weather tends to continue.

、。

She was prone to illness as a child.

、。

When thinking alone, I tend to become pessimistic.

。

This kind of mistake is something that tends to happen.

、。

My neighbor is often away from home, so I rarely see them.

、。

You tend to overlook important things, so please be careful.

。

He raised his hand hesitantly.

。

The importance of vegetables tends to be forgotten.

。

On days off, I tend to slack off.

References

がちBunpro