adverbial N3 uncommon casualpolitewritten
〜がち — tend to ~ / be prone to ~
〜がち ・ がち
Builds on 連用形（ます形）
Meaning
- tend to ~ / be prone to ~ / often ~ — a frequent inclination, usually toward an unwelcome outcome
Key sentence
最近、彼は学校を休みがちだ。
Lately he tends to be absent from school.
Formation
| Attaches to | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun / Verb (ます-stem) | N + がち; V(stem) + がち | 病気がち / 忘れがち / 曇りがち |
Examples
忙しいと、食事が不規則になりがちだ。
When you're busy, meals tend to become irregular.
初心者は基本を軽視しがちだ。
Beginners are prone to neglecting the basics.
When you can't use it
- Leans negative — it pairs with undesirable tendencies (休みがち, 遅れがち, 曇りがち). For a neutral or positive habit, 〜がち sounds off.
Easily confused with
〜気味 がち is a recurring tendency over time ('often does / is prone to'), while 気味 is a slight degree felt right now ('a touch of'). 休みがち = 'often absent'; 疲れ気味 = 'a bit tired today.' っぽい Both can touch on disposition, but っぽい frames it as a character trait ('-ish,' 怒りっぽい = 'short-tempered'), while がち frames it as a statistical tendency ('tends to,' 怒りがち = 'apt to get angry').
See 〜がち in real sentences
Jengo shows 〜がち the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.
Study it in JengoSources Compiled with reference to A Dictionary of Advanced Japanese Grammar, A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar.