毎～, ～毎に, & ～おきに
In this lesson, we will learn about three grammar points which roughly translate to “every/each…” in the context of repetition.
The Prefix 毎～
The prefix 毎～ denotes an ordinary repetition of time. While it is used in response to common, habitual actions, it is limited to idiomatic expressions and cannot generate new possible combinations:
| 毎朝 | every morning | 毎晩 | every evening |
| 毎日 | every day | 毎週 | every week |
| 毎月 | every month | 毎年 | every year |
| 毎春 | every spring | 毎夏 | every summer |
| 毎秋 | every autumn | 毎冬 | every winter |
| 毎時（間） | every hour | 毎分 | every minute |
| 毎秒 | every second | 毎回 | every time |
| 毎度 | always/often | 毎期 | every term |
| 毎学期 | every semester | 毎号 | every issue |
1. 毎朝散歩に出かけます。
I go out on a walk every morning.
2. 台風２０号は毎時50キロメートルの速度で進んでいる。
Typhoon No. 20 is moving at a speed of 50 kilometers per hour.
3. 家の近くに野良猫が棲んでいて、１年くらい、ほぼ毎晩食事をあげています。
There is a stray cat that lives near my house, and I’ve been feeding it almost every evening for about a year.
4. 人間の意識的な思考速度は毎秒10ビット、一方で感覚器官の情報処理速度は毎秒約1ギガビット（10億ビット）に達することが判明しました。
It has been found that the speed of conscious thought for humans is 10 bits per second, while the processing speed for the sensory organs reaches approximately 1 gigabit (1 billion bits) per second.
5. 日本人は毎日三回食事をするのが普通だ。
It is typical for Japanese people to eat three meals every day.
6. 日本の首相は毎年のように替わる。
The Japanese prime minister changes practically every year.
7. 毎月のように熱を出すけど、変な病気ではない？
I get a fever like every month, but isn’t this some sort of strange illness?
8. 連載記事を毎号愛読してくださる方におすすめ！
Recommended for those who enjoy reading every issue of our serialized articles!
As is borne out in the chart above, 毎～ is primarily used with one-character words, but examples like 毎学期 (every semester) and 毎学年 (every academic year) are notable exceptions to this norm.
9. 毎学期楽しく過ごせています。
I’ve been able to enjoy every semester.
The most common lengthy utilization of 毎～ happens to be found when expressing “every [day of the week],” which is typically formed by using “毎週+ day of the week,” as opposed to “毎 + day of the week,” which is possible yet rather rare, particularly in the spoken language.
10. 毎週日曜日に教会に通うことにどのような意味があるのでしょうか。
What does it mean to go to church every Sunday.
In formal writing, more expressions utilizing 毎～ may be found, almost all of which relate to non-deictic time expressions. In this environment, it is also possible to find example words mentioned in the previous chart read solely with ON readings to heighten the literary tone.
| 毎朝 | every morning | 毎月 | every month |
| 毎年 | every year | 毎夕1 | every evening |
| 毎夜2 | every night | 毎春 | every spring |
| 毎夏 | every summer | 毎秋 | every autumn |
| 毎冬 | every winter | 毎季 | every season |
In the spoken language, these formal expressions are switched out with their equivalents shown in the previous chart or replaced altogether with help from the next item of discussion in this lesson, ～ごとに.
～ごとに
～ごとに, written in kanji as ～毎に, is the native equivalent of 毎～, translating into English as “every/each…,” but its utility is far more versatile. Its usage can be summarized with the four following environments:
- For every constant place, time period, person, etc., something is repeated, translating as “each/every.”
- Something differs between instances of a given variable, translating as “from X to X…”
- For every constant spatial or temporal interval, something is repeated, translating as “every/per.”
- With each passing interval, a change progresses, translating as “with each…”
Each/Every…
Attaching after nouns, ～ごとに may translate as “each/every,” indicating the repetition of some action/event with each/every identified constant.”
11. 祝日ごとに、家族みんなでドライブに出かけることにしてますよ。
The whole family goes out on a drive every holiday.
12. 降りてくる人ごとに「あとどれぐらい？」と尋ねた。
With each person (I passed that was) descending, I would ask, “how much longer is there?”
From X to X…
Attaching after nouns, ～ごとに may translate as “each/from X to X” to indicate that some circumstance differs between each variable.
13. 会社ごとに、それぞれの社是と社則があるから、よく注意してください。
[Each company/from company to company, each one] has its own policies and rules. So, please pay close attention.
14. カレーの味は地方ごとに異なります。
The way curry tastes differs from region to region.
15. 相続人ごとに考え方が異なり、「公平感」の違いから争いに発展することがあります。
Each heir has their own way of thinking, and differences in their sense of “fairness” can often lead to disputes.
Every/Each…
Paired with either spatial or temporal nouns, including counter phrases, ～ごとに may translate as “every/each” to indicate some repetition in constant intervals.
16. 4年ごとに閏年になって、オリンピックが開かれるということは常識だ。
It’s common sense that every four years is a leap year and that the Olympics are held.
17. 一時間ごとに手洗い消毒を行っています。
We disinfect or hands every hour.
18. 土曜日ごとに塾に通います。
I go to cram school every Saturday.
19. 昔は、3月から5月にかけて週末ごとに釣りに行っていました。
I used to go fishing every weekend from March to May back in the day.
20. 長さ100メートルの道に端から端まで5メートルごとに木が植えられています。
The 100 meter-long road has trees planted every 5 meters from one end to the other.
With Each…
At every stated constant interval, some effect becomes more pronounced.
21. 一雨ごとに、もっと暖かくなる。
With each rain, it gets warmer.
22. 年ごとに、地球温暖化が加速しているように思えます。
With each passing year, global warming seems to be accelerating.
For some non-deictic temporal nouns such as 年 and 月, duplicating the noun is a common, more prominent paraphrasing of ～ごとに. Meaning, 年々 ＝ 年ごとに; 月々 ＝ 月ごとに. While it may not be always the case that what is repeated has an accumulated effect (Usage 3), the interchangeability is maintained.
23. 家賃を｛月々 ◎・月ごとに 〇｝ちゃんと払っています。(Usage 3)
I properly pay my rent every month.
This is not to say that ～ごとに is entirely synonymous with 毎～ as it pertains to cyclical behavior. 毎～ simply denotes repetition, whereas ～ごとに, especially with Usage 4, implies accumulation, which the former can never express.
24. 毎年調査を行っていますが、年々店舗の意識も上がり、ほとんどの店舗できちんとした規制が行われていました。
(We) conduct surveys every year, and with each year, we find that awareness (of the matters at hand) at those stores is improving, with proper regulations being enforced at nearly all stores.
～ごとに ＝ Objective
Expressions made with ～ごとに have a strong objective feel, and there is often a sense that whatever is happening repeats cyclically as the rule. In this light, it may follow verbal predicates, but this is quite rare, being inappropriate when describing personal, emotional anecdotes. However, if the repetition described is just an objective statement of fact, “Verb + ～ごとに” may be used naturally, although this is still quite uncommon and overshadowed by other grammar points.
25. 買い物するごとに、還元ポイントがもらえます。
Every time you shop, you received cash-back points.
In older language, “Verb + ～ごとに” could be seen more broadly to mean “whenever,” and in this greater capacity, it holds on in set phrases such as ことあるごとに (with every little thing/at every turn), albeit with a negative connotation.
26. オレの彼女だが、ことあるごとに浮気を疑ってくる。
My girlfriend suspects that I’m cheating on her at every turn.
Expressing “Every Time”
As you may have noticed, 毎～ may be used with the counters ～回 and ～度, and while it may seem like common sense that both would be synonymous to mean “every time,” they are not as interchangeable as one might expect.
While both 毎回 and 毎度 may translate as “every time/occurrence,” the literal sense of what is meant by “every time” is not nearly as felt with 毎度, allowing it to be used more idiomatically.
27. お客さんは毎回違う。
The patrons/guests are different each time.
28. 毎回このパターンだ・・・
Each time, it’s this same pattern (of behavior)…
29. 毎度ありがとうございます3。(Said often to customers)
Thank you as always.
30. 毎度のことだけれど、どこから手をつけていいか悩むわ。
As always, I’m not sure where to start.
31. 2人分の晩御飯が毎回毎回多すぎなのは知ってる。
I’m aware that dinner enough for two each and every time is too much.
～おきに
～おきに is equivalent to “every other,” and it can be used with temporal or spatial intervals. While it shows repetition within a given interval, the spacing out of said repetition is not the same as ～ごとに. To see how this manifests, compare the following:
32a. ２日おきに (●○○●○○●○○●)
Every other two days
32b. 2日ごとに (●○●○●○●)
Every two days
33a. ３メートルおきに (●○○○●○○○●)
Every other three meters
33b. 3メートルごとに (●○○●○○●)
Every three meters
34. きょうから一日おきに出勤です！
It’s going into work every other day starting today (for me)!
35. 部屋は5分おきに揺れた。
The room shook every other five minutes.
When the interval of time or space is so small that the gap that ～おきに literally imposes is negligible, it essentially becomes synonymous with ～ごとに. Here are some scenarios to figure out the logic behind this:
- Imagine you are planting trees 10 meters away from each other for 100 meters. If you measure so that the 10 meters goes from center to center, you can ensure that each interval is the same regardless of how thick each tree is (think ～ごとに). If, however, each interval of 10 meters begins at the edge of each tree, fewer trees will be planted the thicker the trees are (think ～おきに).
- Imagine aftershocks are occurring in intervals of five minutes. Earthquakes typically only last for a few seconds. Here, the difference between ～ごとに and ～おきに is arguably negligible.
- Though not heard in the spoken language, 毎夕 is generally read as まいゆう, with the reading まいせき giving off an even stronger literary tone. ↩︎
- Though its traditional reading is まいや, it is generally read まいよ in modern speech. However, the word is normally replaced with 毎晩 in everyday speech. ↩︎
- The Kansai Dialect iteration of this expression, 毎度大きに, is widely known. ↩︎