ごとに (JLPT N4) | Bunpro – Japanese Grammar Explained

About ごとに

ごとに is an combination of the noun ごと, and the particle に. Together, they are used adverbially to express that something happens 'every (A)', or 'at intervals of (A)'. ごとに may be used after any verb (usually in non-past form), or noun.

私(わたし)は彼(かれ)に会(あ)うごとに、「何(なに)を食(た)べたい？」と聞(き)かれます。
Everytime I see him, he asks me 'What do you want to eat?'
私(わたし)は3時間(じかん)ごとにお菓子(かし)を食(た)べます。
I eat snacks every 3 hours.

Although ごとに may be used after verbs, the most common use is with nouns, or phrases that finish with nouns.

Caution

ごと is the 訓読(くんよ)み (Japanese reading) of the kanji 毎(まい), which means 'every'. This fact will be important when trying to remember the difference between ごとに, and おきに, a similar grammar point which also means 'every', but focuses more on 'intervals'. Due to おきに focusing on the space between 'each', there are sentences where おきに and ごとに will have different meanings.

私(わたし)は一週間(いっしゅうかん)ごとに実家(じっか)に帰(かえ)ります。
I go to my parents' home every week. (Every single one)
私(わたし)は一週間(いっしゅうかん)おきに実家(じっか)に帰(かえ)ります。
I go to my parents' home every other week. (Every single interval of one)

Here, we can see that ごとに will mean 'every week', but おきに will mean 'every second week'. due to there being a 'one week interval' when おきに is used. To make things easier, these two expressions can be remembered in the following way.
(A) ごとに = Every (A)
(A) おきに = Every spaced repetition of (A)

Fun Fact

Many native speakers make mistakes with the difference between おきに and ごとに, so there are quite a large number of people (especially in the younger generation) that will consider them completely interchangeable.

Synonyms

Examples

彼女(かのじょ)は運転中(うんてんちゅう)、赤信号(あかしんごう)ごとに、携帯(けいたい)を見(み)る。
She looks at her phone at every red light while driving.
出(で)かけるごとに忘(わす)れ物(もの)をする。
Every time I go out I forget something.
夏(なつ)ごとにアメリカに帰(かえ)ります。
Every summer I go back to America.
生徒(せいと)ごとに紙(かみ)を渡(わた)した。
I gave a paper to every student. (Each)
二日(ふつか)ごとに友達(ともだち)とサッカーをする。
I play soccer with my friend every two days.
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ごとに – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (7 in total)

Glaciem52
About 1 year ago
I don’t understand the diference in use of に and ごとに. Sometimes i write に im suppose to write ごとに and i dont understand why.
wmwmw
About 10 months ago

timestamped
bokudake
About 2 months ago
Same, I was asked to expand my answer on a review, but forgot about the existence of ごとに.
Still, i don’t know what the difference is between these two grammar points.