connective N2 uncommon casualwritten
〜がけに — on the way / just as one is ~ing
〜がけに ・ がけに
Builds on 連用形（ます形）
Meaning
- on the way ~ / just as one is ~ing — doing something incidentally at the point of a movement
がけ attaches to a small fixed set of motion-verb stems — 出がけ ('on one's way out'), 帰りがけ ('on the way home'), 行きがけ ('on the way there'), 通りがけ ('while passing by') — and + に marks doing something else at that point of the trip. 帰りがけに、本屋に寄った ('on the way home, I stopped by the bookshop'). The incidental action happens *during/at the moment of* that movement, not as a planned detour.
Key sentence
出がけに、急に電話が鳴った。
Just as I was heading out, the phone suddenly rang.
Formation
| Attaches to | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| A small set of motion-verb ます-stems + がけに | V(motion)ます-stem + がけに | 行きがけに / 帰りがけに / 通りがけに |
When: Casual narration of something done incidentally in the course of going, coming, or leaving. Limited to the fixed motion verbs.
Examples
学校の行きがけに、友だちに会った。
On the way to school, I ran into a friend.
通りがけに、店のいい匂いがした。
As I passed by, a nice smell drifted from the shop.
寝がけにコーヒーを飲むと眠れなくなる。
If I drink coffee just as I'm going to bed, I can't sleep.
Easily confused with
ついでに ついでに = 'while I'm at it', taking the opportunity of a main task to add a second (買い物のついでに); がけに is narrower — specifically 'at the point of going/coming/leaving', tied to a fixed set of motion verbs. 〜ながら ながら = doing two things at once over a stretch (歩きながら話す); がけに pins the incidental action to the *moment* of a departure or passage, not a continuous overlap.
Notes
- がけ only combines with a handful of motion verbs (出/帰り/行き/通り/寝). It is not productive — you can't form ×食べがけに.
See 〜がけに in real sentences
Jengo shows 〜がけに the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.
Study it in JengoSources Compiled from published Japanese grammar references.