Structure
めったに + Verb［ない］
Noun + は + めったにない
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Standard
About めったに〜ない
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.
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Examples
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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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ほとんど〜ないvs. めったに〜ない
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めったに〜ない – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (3 in total)
matt_in_mito
めったに vs あまり
Has anyone ever noticed a nuance between these two or are they basically the same?
mrnoone
Hey
あまり is more general. It means (with negative) not much, not many. Used when you speak of degree or quantity of something.
While めったに means rarely, seldom. So it is limited to the frequency of something.
本をあまり読んでいない。
I don’t read books much.本はめったに読まない。
I rarely read books.matt_in_mito
That’s great, thank you. I’ll try to start using it.
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