ごとに / おきに Japanese Grammar Lesson
Grammar Type: Particle
Essential Meaning: Every (expresses an interval)
Construction:
- Time Interval Noun + (ごとに / おきに)
- E.g. 三時間ごとに [Every 3 hours]
- E.g. 三時間おきに [Every 4th hour]
- Spacial Interval Noun + (ごとに / おきに)
- E.g. 駅ごとに [Every station]
- E.g. 駅おきに [Every other station]
Notes:
- おきに and ごとに both express the idea that something is repeated at specific intervals, whether that be intervals of time (e.g. “Every 5 minutes“) or intervals of space (e.g. “Every other station”).
- There is a very subtle difference between おきに and ごとに.
- X + おきに expresses the idea that there is X amount of time in between each action or that there is X amount of space in between each object. This concept of “space between” derives from the verb おく. For example, この電車は二駅おきに止まる means “As for this train, there are two stations in between every stop.” Or in other words, it means “This train stops at every third station.“
- E.g 私は二日おきに花子と会っている。[I’m seeing Hanako every third day.]
- X + ごとに expresses the the idea that an action or object will occur once in every set of X units of time / space. This is essentially how native English speakers use the word “Every“. For example, in the sentence “There is a Starbucks every 3 blocks“, the implication is that in any particular set of 3 blocks, a Starbucks will occur once.
- E.g. 一課ごとに試験がある。[There is a test every chapter.]
- X + おきに expresses the idea that there is X amount of time in between each action or that there is X amount of space in between each object. This concept of “space between” derives from the verb おく. For example, この電車は二駅おきに止まる means “As for this train, there are two stations in between every stop.” Or in other words, it means “This train stops at every third station.“
- When using specific units of time (e.g. “Seconds“, “Hours“, “Minutes“) rather than periods of time (e.g. “Two days“), there is no difference between ごとに and おきに.
- E.g. 電車は五分(おきに/ごとに)出る。[The train leaves every five minutes.] Because 5 minutes is a specific unit of time rather than a period of time, おきに and ごとに are interchangeable.
- E.g. 私は二日おきに花子と会っている。[I’m meeting with Hanako every 3rd day.] 二日 [Two days] is a period of time, so おきに and ごとに are not interchangeable in this case.おきに indicates that there are two days in between every day that the speaker meets with Hanako.
- E.g. 私は二日ごとに花子と会っている。[I’m meeting with Hanako every other day.] 二日 [Two days] is a period of time, so おきに and ごとに are not interchangeable in this case. ごとに indicates that in every set of two days, the speaker meets with Hanako once.
Example Sentences:
私は三時間ごとに薬を飲んだ。[I took medicine once every 3 hours.]
正月は家おきに門松を建てる。[During New Year’s, every other house hangs up pine tree decorations.]
一課ごとに試験がある。[There is a test every chapter.]
学期ごとに先生がかわる。[The teacher changes every semester.]
木村さんは会う人ごとに挨拶している。[Mr. Kimura greets every person he meets.]
三日おきににテニスをしています。[I am playing tennis every 4th day.]
WILD Examples:
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