adverbial N3 uncommon casualpolitewritten
めったに〜ない — seldom ~
めったに〜ない ・ めったにない
Builds on めったに
Meaning
- seldom ~ / rarely ~ / hardly ever ~ — an action or event that happens very infrequently
Key sentence
この辺では雪はめったに降らない。
It seldom snows around here.
Formation
| Attaches to | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Adverb めったに + a negative predicate | めったに + V(ない / -ません) | めったに会わない / めったにありません |
When you can't use it
- めったに is fixed to a negative; it cannot end a positive sentence. Say めったに降らない ('seldom snows'), never ×めったに降る. The 'rare' meaning lives entirely in the めったに〜ない pairing.
Easily confused with
See めったに〜ない in real sentences
Jengo shows めったに〜ない 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.