Grammar Info

N3 Lesson 10: 7/20

がち

Apt to do, Tend to do, Prone to do

Structure Legend

Structure

Verb[ます+ がち
Noun + がち
Noun (1) + がち + (2) + Noun


(1) Verb[ます
(2)

Details

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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()いつもパフェ(たの)がちだけど今日(きょう)はパンケーキ(たの)む。
    When I come here I always tend to order parfait, but today I am getting a pancake.
  • うち()病気(びょうき)がちので(しゅう)()(さん)(にち)ぐらいは学校(がっこう)(やす)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(ひと)だいたい成績(せいせき)(わる)い。
    People who tend to skip school usually have bad grades.
Fun Fact
がち as a grammar structure comes from the word ()ち, meaning 'a win'. ()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.
  • (ひま)ときはテレビ()がちだけど(いそが)しい(とき)全然(ぜんぜん)()ない
    Watching TV wins out when I am bored, but when I am busy I don't watch it at all.
  • (おれ)(まわ)()たりがちから(おれ)やらせてみろ。
    Hitting the jackpot wins out when I spin it, so why don't you let me do it.
  • ()ないことはありがちから()()なくてもいいよ。そういう()もある
    Times that you cannot catch anything often win out, so don't be so upset. It happens.

Examples

  • (わたし)息子(むすこ)病気(びょうき)がちだ。

    My boy is apt to get sick.

  • サボりがち生徒(せいと)(いえ)まで(むか)えに()って、学校(がっこう)()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(ひと)はすぐ、()せることを(あきら)がちだ。

    That person is prone to quickly give up on losing weight.

  • (くるま)ばかり()っていると、運動(うんどう)不足(ぶそく)になりがちだ。

    If you are always riding around in a car, you tend to not get enough exercise.

  • (わたし)元気(げんき)だと(おも)われがちですが、(じつ)(からだ)(よわ)んです。

    I am prone to be considered energetic, but I actually have a delicate constitution.

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がち – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (3 in total)

  • MZa

    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

    Pep95

    About 3 years ago

    Oh nice! This will help a lot

  • Daru

    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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