auxiliary N1 uncommon casualwritten
〜そびれる — to miss the chance to ~
〜そびれる ・ そびれる
Builds on 連用形（ます形）
Meaning
- miss the chance to ~ / fail to ~ though one meant to — the timing or opportunity slips away
Key sentence
お礼を言いそびれて、ずっと気になっている。
I missed my chance to thank them, and it's been bothering me ever since.
Formation
| Attaches to | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb masu-stem + そびれる (conjugates as an ichidan verb) | V-stem + そびれる | 聞きそびれる / 食べそびれる |
Examples
寝そびれて、結局朝まで起きていた。
I missed my window to sleep and ended up staying up till morning.
肝心なことを聞きそびれてしまった。
I missed my chance to ask the one thing that really mattered.
忙しくて昼ご飯を食べそびれた。
I was so busy I missed my chance to eat lunch.
When you can't use it
- Implies you intended or expected to do the action but the moment passed — not a flat 'didn't do.' Often the reason is hesitation or being caught up in something else.
Easily confused with
〜損なう そびれる is specifically about missing the timing/opportunity (often through hesitation). 損なう is broader: it also covers doing something wrongly (書き損なう 'miswrite') and the 'narrowly' idiom 死に損なう. 〜ずじまい そびれる is the act of missing the chance; ずじまい names the resulting state — that the thing was, in the end, never done at all.
Notes
- Very common with verbs of communication and daily routine: 言いそびれる, 聞きそびれる, 食べそびれる, 乗りそびれる.
See 〜そびれる in real sentences
Jengo shows 〜そびれる 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.