がち (gachi)
～がち — tends to ～ (usually undesirable)
Pattern
-
Vます形（ます抜き）＋がちVerb stem + がち -
N＋がちNoun + がち
Connection
With verbs, drop ます from the polite form (休み, 忘れ, なり). Nouns are state words such as 病気 or 留守. Typical forms: ～がちだ, ～がちの＋noun, ～がちな＋noun.
When to use
It points out a regrettable tendency: 'it easily turns out that way.' It is normally not used for good things (勉強がち is wrong). The key idea is repetition or tendency, not a one-time event.
Examples
-
彼（かれ）は最近（さいきん）学校（がっこう）を休（やす）みがちだ。
Kare wa saikin gakkō o yasumigachi da.
He tends to be absent from school lately.
-
冬（ふゆ）は運動（うんどう）が不足（ふそく）しがちだ。
Fuyu wa undō ga fusoku shigachi da.
In winter we tend to lack exercise.
-
忙（いそが）しいと、食事（しょくじ）がいい加減（かげん）になりがちだ。
Isogashii to, shokuji ga iikagen ni narigachi da.
When you're busy, meals tend to become careless.
Common mistakes
- Do not keep ます: 休みがち, not 休みますがち.
- It is for undesirable tendencies. Saying 'tends to study hard' with がち sounds odd.
More grammar points
- 上（あ）げる ～上げる — to finish ～ completely
- 合（あ）う ～合う — do ～ to each other; to fit, to suit
- だらけ ～だらけ — covered in ～, full of ～ (something bad)
- がたい ～がたい — hard to ～
- 気味（ぎみ） ～気味 — a touch of ～
- かける ～かける — half-done, in the middle of ～
- 切（き）れない ～切れない — cannot finish, cannot fully ～
- 切（き）る ～切る — do ～ completely, to the end
- 込（こ）む ～込む — into, crowded, deeply ～
- 向（む）け ～向け — intended for ～, aimed at ～
- 向（む）き ～向き — suited to ～, facing ～
- 直（なお）す ～直す — do ～ over again
- っぱなし ～っぱなし — leaving ～ as it is
- っぽい ～っぽい — ～-ish / tends to be ～
- たて ～たて — “freshly ～ed / just done”
- 的（てき） ～的 — “-like / -al” (makes an adjective)
- 通（とお）す ～通す — “do ～ all the way through”
- あまり あまりの～に — so ～ that ～
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