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Grammar JLPT Level N4 - Lesson 6

Structure of 毎(ごと)に:

Verb + ごとに
Noun + ごとに

Details about 毎(ごと)に:

ごとに is an combination of the noun ごと, and the particle . Together, they are used adverbially to express that something happens 'every (A)', or 'at intervals of (A)'. ごとに may be used after any verb (usually in non-past form), or noun.
  • (わたし)(かれ)()ごとに、「(なに)()たい?」()かれます
    Everytime I see him, he asks me 'What do you want to eat?'
  • (わたし)3時間(じかん)ごとに菓子(かし)()ます
    I eat snacks every 3 hours.
Although ごとに may be used after verbs, the most common use is with nouns, or phrases that finish with nouns.
毎(ごと)に

Usage Notes for 毎(ごと)に:

ごと is the 訓読(くんよ)み (Japanese reading) of the kanji (まい), which means 'every'. This fact will be important when trying to remember the difference between ごとに, and おきに, a similar grammar point which also means 'every', but focuses more on 'intervals'. Due to おきに focusing on the space between 'each', there are sentences where おきに and ごとに will have different meanings.
  • (わたし)一週間(いっしゅうかん)ごとに実家(じっか)(かえ)ます
    I go to my parents' home every week. (Every single one)
  • (わたし)一週間(いっしゅうかん)おきに実家(じっか)(かえ)ます
    I go to my parents' home every other week. (Every single interval of one)
Here, we can see that ごとに will mean 'every week', but おきに will mean 'every second week'. due to there being a 'one week interval' when おきに is used. To make things easier, these two expressions can be remembered in the following way.
(A) ごとに = Every (A)
(A) おきに = Every spaced repetition of (A)

Synonyms for 毎(ごと)に:

に (Frequency)
Times (In each time period), Every, Frequency of
まい~のように
Almost every ~, Nearly every ~, On a ~ basis
たびに
Each time, Every time, Whenever
おきに
Repeated at intervals, Every other, Every, At intervals of
につけ
Whenever, Every time something happens

Example of 毎(ごと)に

彼女(かのじょ)運転中(うんてんちゅう)赤信号(あかしんごう)ごとに携帯(けいたい)()

She looks at her phone at every red light while driving.

()かけるごとに(わす)(もの)する

Every time I go out I forget something.

(なつ)ごとにアメリカ(かえ)ります

Every summer I go back to America.

生徒(せいと)ごとに(かみ)(わた)した

I gave a paper to every student. (Each)

二日(ふつか)ごとに友達(ともだち)サッカーする

I play soccer with my friend every two days.

Grammar same lesson

より

More than, Over
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に (Frequency)

Times (In each time period), Every, Frequency of
See detailsreport

~る所(ところ)だ

About to, On the verge of
See detailsreport

と思(おも)う

I think
See detailsreport

そう

Look like, Appear, Seem, Have a feeling that
See detailsreport
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