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Gogaku

All N4 grammar

N4

〜ことがある

Sometimes happens to…machine translation

FormationVerb dictionary form / ない-form + ことがある

Verb dictionary form + ことがある says that something OCCASIONALLY happens: バスが遅れることがある (the bus is sometimes late). It often goes with ときどき or たまに. With the ない-form — 〜ないことがある — it means "sometimes doesn't…": 朝ご飯を食べないことがある.

Don't confuse it with 〜たことがある from N5: た-form + ことがある talks about EXPERIENCE you've had (日本へ行ったことがある — I have been to Japan), while dictionary form + ことがある talks about something that still happens now and then. Only the verb form before it differs, yet the meaning changes completely — exams love this point.

Note that this pattern isn't used for things that happen frequently; for "often" you use the adverb よく with an ordinary sentence: よく遅れます.

Examples

Related patterns

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