〜がち

Indicates a frequent tendency, almost always something undesirable: 病気がち, 遅れがち, 忘れがち. It attaches mainly to verb stems and a few nouns, and inflects like a な形容詞 (〜がちな N, 〜がちだ). Compared with 〜っぽい (a trait of the person or thing), 〜がち focuses on how often something happens. Slightly more formal than 〜っぽい and common in writing too.

• 冬は野菜が不足しがちです。

  ふゆはやさいがふそくしがちです。

  We tend to lack vegetables in winter.

• 子どものころ、私は病気がちでした。

  こどものころ、わたしはびょうきがちでした。

  I was often sick as a child.

• 忙しいと、食事の時間が不規則になりがちだ。

  いそがしいと、しょくじのじかんがふきそくになりがちだ。

  When you're busy, your mealtimes tend to become irregular.