めったに～ない

The expression めったに～ない is used to say that something hardly ever, rarely, or seldom happens. It always pairs the adverb めったに with a negative form of a verb (or adjective), making it a classic example of a Japanese pattern where a specific adverb requires a negative ending.

Usage notes

めったに～ない emphasizes that the frequency of something is extremely low – close to never, but not absolutely never. It is stronger than あまり〜～ない (not very often) but weaker than ぜんぜん全然〜～ない (not at all).

• あまり～ない: not very often (mild)
• めったに～ない: rarely / hardly ever (strong)
• ぜんぜん全然～ない: not at all / never (strongest)

Polite form

In polite speech, simply use the polite negative form (〜～ません).

Past tense

To express that something rarely happened in the past, use the past negative form.

With nouns and adjectives

めったに～ない can also be used with ない directly or with noun phrases using expressions like めったにない＋Noun, meaning "a rare (noun)."

Common mistake

A common mistake is forgetting to use the negative form. めったに must always be paired with a negative ending – using it with an affirmative verb is ungrammatical.