めったに～ない means "hardly ever", "rarely": it happens, but almost never.
めったに goes before the verb, and the verb has to be negative – the
ない-form, or ません in polite speech.
。
He hardly ever comes late.
。
It rarely snows around here.
、。
As a child, I hardly ever cried.
めったに, あまり and たまに
〜～ is "not often", and めったに～ない is rarer still: "hardly
ever". For "never", say
〜～.
。
My father doesn't drink much.
。
My father hardly ever drinks.
("now and then") describes much the same frequency, but it takes
an affirmative verb. めったに with an affirmative verb is wrong.
。
I watch a film now and then.
。
I hardly ever watch films.
- × めったに映画を見ます → めったに映画を見ません
めったにない
With itself, めったにない means "rare", and it can stand before a
noun.
。
A chance like this hardly ever comes.
、。
It's rare, but the train was late.
Lingaku