ところがあるhas a … side; can be
One side of what a person is like: "he has a stubborn side", "she can be careless". It is gentler than calling them stubborn or careless outright.
My older brother has a stubborn side.
He has a way of not hearing people out.
My father is strict, but he has a kind side too.
How to form it
Plain form + ところがある ／ な-adjective + な + ところがある
冷たいところがある, 聞かないところがある, 頑固なところがある. With も it is "has a … side too": 優しいところもある.
- Said about
- People you know, mostly, and yourself. A good side or a bad one.
- Often with
- 少し or ちょっと.
- Where you'll meet it
- Conversation, mostly, and writing too. For a fault, formal writing has きらいがある.
Gentler than saying it flat
The manager can be cold.
One side of him. There is more to him than that.
In use
He can be a little childish.
I have a way of overthinking things.
About yourself, it usually owns up to a weak point.
There is a side of her that just can't ignore someone in trouble.
いいところ, 悪いところ
On its own, ところ is a side of someone, or a point about them.
悪いところa bad point, a failing
His failing is that he is quick to blame other people.
そういうところthat side of someone
That's what I like about her.
ところ is still a place
With no one's character in view, ところがある is plain "there is a place", or "there is a part".
There is nowhere to eat lunch around here.
There's a part of the homework I don't understand.
Close neighbours
きらいがあるN1
The same remark in formal writing, or in a measured voice at a meeting. Always a fault, never a good side.
He has a tendency not to hear people out.
がちN3
What keeps happening: forgetting, running late. ところがある is what someone is like. がち can't follow a negative or an adjective; ところがある can.
My father tends to forget to take his medicine.
ところだN4
After a verb, a moment and not a trait: about to, in the middle of, just done.
I'm just about to have dinner.
Check yourself
1What does this say about her?
妹は、
Choose an answer to see why.
2Which one fits?
新しい
Choose an answer to see why.
More sentences
He can be a bit stubborn, can't he?
Among friends ところ shrinks to とこ, and が often drops.
In character, those two are alike in some ways.
There is something nostalgic about this song.
Of a thing or a place: there is something … about it.