傾向があるtends to; shows a trend
The analyst's "tends to": what a survey, the figures or long observation show. It is about many cases, never one occasion, and it reports without praise or blame.
what a group does
A nationwide survey shows that younger people tend to avoid paper application forms.
the way a figure is moving
This town's population is on the decline.
How to form it
Verb (dictionary form or ない form) or adjective + 傾向がある ／ Noun + の + 傾向がある
避ける傾向がある, 読まない傾向がある, 高い傾向がある, 小型化の傾向がある.
A rise or a fall
増加／減少／上昇 + 傾向にある
傾向にある means the same, and is the usual shape for the way figures are moving. These nouns join straight on, with no の.
- Before it
- A group or a kind of thing, and what it mostly does. Often with ほど, "the more …".
- Often with
- Where the finding comes from, or the period: 調査では, データによると, 近年.
- Tone
- Neutral. The tendency can be good, bad or neither.
- Where you'll meet it
- News, reports, research, textbooks, a presentation at work. Chatting, people say ことが多い or がち.
In use
This medicine tends to work less well with long-term use.
According to the meeting records, the more people attend, the less time each one tends to speak.
In recent years, household appliances have been getting smaller.
The number of foreign tourists is on the rise.
About one person it sounds like a report
English "tends to" is everyday. 傾向がある keeps its distance, so about a friend, or about yourself, it sounds like a doctor's notes.
The records show that the busier he is, the more he tends to skip meals.
Someone going through his records.
When he's busy, he often skips meals.
Said in conversation: it often happens.
When he's busy, he tends to skip meals.
A friend who worries about him. がち is for a habit you'd rather not have.
Close neighbours
がちN3
Everyday. Something easily ends up happening, usually something unwelcome. It works for roads, trains and the weather as well as people.
This road tends to become congested in winter.
きらいがあるN1
Also written, but always a criticism: the habit is a fault.
This committee has a regrettable tendency to rush to conclusions without adequately considering opposing views.
Check yourself
1Which one fits?
調査に
Choose an answer to see why.
2Which sentence sounds natural?
Choose an answer to see why.
More detail
The tendency itself can be weighed: 傾向が強い, "strongly tend to", and 傾向が見られる, "a tendency can be seen".
The younger people are, the stronger the tendency.
More sentences
Our usage data shows that people tend to watch videos for longer on weekends.
A recent survey shows that users tend to give up partway when the procedure is complicated.
Three user surveys show that older users tend to choose advice by telephone.
Growing trials show that this variety tends to bear sweeter fruit in cold regions.
Records from the past five years show that electricity consumption tends to decrease in renovated buildings.