めったに～ない is an expression that may be translated as 'hardly', 'seldom', or 'rarely'. Originally, 滅多 is a な-Adjective that means 'thoughtless', or 'reckless'. Due to this, as an adverb, 滅多に literally means 'thoughtlessly' or 'recklessly'.
めったに～ない will usually be paired with a verb in the negative form, or following a noun, and the adverbial particle は.
Caution
It is far more common to see めったに written without kanji, than with. However, both are used.
Fun Fact
As めったに originally means 'thoughtlessly', when appearing in a negative statement, the nuance becomes 'to not (A) thoughtlessly' (mindlessly, or aimlessly). This simply expresses that the speaker will not do (A) unintentionally, or (A) will not happen unless there is some special reason for it.
Relacionados
Ejemplos
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父は滅多にテレビを見ない。
My father rarely watches TV.
こんなにいい話しは滅多にない。
Such a nice story is rarely (heard).
滅多に泣かない彼が泣いていた。
He, who hardly cries, was crying. (seldom・rarely)
僕のおじいちゃんは滅多に笑わない。
My grandpa seldom smiles.
彼は滅多に忘れないのに、今日はどうしたんだろう？
He rarely forgets, I wonder what happened today?
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