Structure Legend
Structure
Verb[ます]+ がち
Noun + がち
Noun (1) + がち + な(2) + Noun
(1) Verb[ます]
(2) の
Details
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Standard
使用域
一般
Rare Kanji
勝ち
About がち
がち is a suffix in Japanese that will be used after nouns, or the conjunctive form of verbs. It conveys that someone is 'apt to (A)', 'tends to (A)', or 'is prone to (A)'. Although not always negative, がち is most frequently used to express negative tendencies.
- ここに来るといつもパフェを頼みがちだけど、今日はパンケーキを頼む。When I come here I always tend to order parfait, but today I am getting a pancake.
- うちの子は病気がちなので、週に二、三日ぐらいは学校を休みます。My son tends to get sick a lot, so he will take 2 to 3 days off of school.
- サボりがちな人はだいたい成績が悪い。People who tend to skip school usually have bad grades.
Fun Fact
がち as a grammar structure comes from the word 勝ち, meaning 'a win'. 勝ち in itself is used to express something that appears 'repeatedly', or 'again and again'. Due to this, がち may be thought of as similar to 'to win out' in English, meaning that 'although there are many possibilities, (A) winning out is the most likely'. This 'winning out' may be due to preference, or sheer good/bad luck.- 暇なときはテレビを見がちだけど、忙しい時には全然見ない。Watching TV wins out when I am bored, but when I am busy I don't watch it at all.
- 俺が回すと当たりがちだから、俺にやらせてみろ。Hitting the jackpot wins out when I spin it, so why don't you let me do it.
- 釣れないことはありがちだから、落ち込まなくてもいいよ。そういう日もあるさ。Times that you cannot catch anything often win out, so don't be so upset. It happens.
Synonyms
Examples
私の息子は病気がちだ。
My boy is apt to get sick.
サボりがちな生徒を家まで迎えに行って、学校へ連れてきた。
I went to the house of the student who tends to skip school, and brought him back.
Though な is used more often nowadays, がち can take either な or の when modifying nouns, so がちの生徒 is also OK.
あの人はすぐ、痩せることを諦めがちだ。
That person is prone to quickly give up on losing weight.
車ばかり乗っていると、運動不足になりがちだ。
If you are always riding around in a car, you tend to not get enough exercise.
私は元気だと思われがちですが、実は体が弱いんです。
I am prone to be considered energetic, but I actually have a delicate constitution.
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How to use がち and ぎみ
Maggie Sensei
Offline
Tae Kim's Japanese Grammar Guide
Page 328
[AIAIJ] An Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese
Page 230
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がち – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (3 in total)
MZa
About 3 years ago
I’ve found this can be written 勝ち (very useful to retain this imho). Is it often written in kanji?
Due to the kanji meaning ‘victory, prevail’ and the point being used for negative tendencies, i guess this implies that this point literally means something like ‘the negative tendencies win, prevail’, but how do we have to understand it syntactically (is it the stem of 勝つ used as a noun ?)?
Pep95
About 3 years ago
Oh nice! This will help a lot
Daru
About 1 year ago
That is exactly right! I didn’t know this myself, thank you for pointing it out!
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