～がち

• Reading: がち
• Romaji: gachi
• Formation: Verb masu-stem + がち / Noun + がち

Meaning

A suffix meaning 'tend to' or 'prone to,' used to express an undesirable tendency or a habit of something negative happening frequently.

がち attaches to verb masu-stems and certain nouns to indicate a recurring tendency, almost always with a negative or undesirable connotation. For example, 遅れがち (tend to be late), 休みがち (tend to be absent), and 病気がち (tend to be sickly). Unlike っぽい, which describes a superficial quality, がち emphasizes actual repeated occurrence. The resulting form behaves as a な-adjective (がちな + noun, がちだ). It should not be used for positive tendencies — for those, ことが多い or よく～する are more appropriate. がち can also follow certain nouns directly, especially those related to states: 曇りがち (tend to be cloudy).

Examples

1. 最近、仕事を休みがちで上司に注意された。 I've been frequently absent from work recently, and my boss warned me.
2. 梅雨の時期は曇りがちな日が続く。 During the rainy season, cloudy days tend to continue.
3. 一人暮らしだと野菜が不足しがちだ。 When living alone, you tend to lack vegetables.

Usage Guide

Context: spoken, written, everyday

Tone: cautionary

Do Say

• 冬は運動不足になりがちだから気をつけよう。
• 新入社員は緊張して失敗しがちだ。
• 遠距離だと連絡が途絶えがちになる。

Don't Say

• 彼はよく成功しがちだ。(Using がち for a positive tendency — がち is reserved for negative or undesirable tendencies; use ことが多い for positive ones) → 彼はよく成功することが多い。
• 走るがちだ。(Using dictionary form instead of masu-stem — the correct form is 走りがちだ) → 走りがちだ。

Origin & History

がち derives from the classical Japanese suffix がち, which indicated a tendency or inclination. It has maintained its nuance of undesirable frequency throughout the development of modern Japanese.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal