～がち
tend to, often negative
～がち attaches to the ます-stem of a verb or directly to a noun and means “tends to” or “is prone to”: 忘れます becomes 忘れがち, “tend to forget”. The result behaves like a な-adjective (がちだ, がちな + noun).
The tendency is almost always something undesirable like forgetting, skipping, getting sick. English equivalents are “tend to”, “apt to”, or “often ends up”.
1. Verb stem + がち: a bad habit or recurring lapse
Use this when an unwanted action keeps happening, often without the person meaning it to.
最近、忘れがちなんです。
“Lately I tend to forget things.”
- 最近（さいきん）= lately, recently
- 忘れがち（わすれがち）= tend to forget
- なんです = explanatory ending (“the thing is...”)
2. Noun + がち: a recurring condition
がち also attaches to a few nouns to describe a state that occurs frequently: 病気がち (often sick), 留守がち (often away from home), 曇りがち (mostly cloudy).
子供のころ、彼は病気がちだった。
“As a child, he was often sick.”
- 子供（こども）= child
- の = links the two nouns (of)
- ころ = time, the period around
- 彼（かれ）= he
- は = topic marker
- 病気がち（びょうきがち）= prone to illness, often sick
- だった = was (past of だ)
How to form it
Verb ます-stem + がち / Noun + がち
- 忘れる（わすれる）= to forget → 忘れがち（わすれがち）= tend to forget
- 休む（やすむ）= to be absent → 休みがち（やすみがち）= often absent
- 病気（びょうき）= illness → 病気がち（びょうきがち）= often sick
Key idea
～がち flags a recurring tendency the speaker views negatively: it happens more often than it should. If the pattern is neutral or welcome, がち is usually the wrong choice.
Other N3 grammar
Updated .