いつも会う

It means you encounter someone very frequently, making it a regular part of your routine. Think of it as seeing someone often enough that it feels predictable, like bumping into your favorite barista every morning or seeing the same classmate in multiple classes.

No, not typically. いつも会う implies frequent, often unplanned or coincidental encounters. For scheduled meetings, you would use words like 会議 (kaigi - meeting) or 約束 (yakusoku - appointment) and simply say you 'will meet' (会います - aimasu).

Yes, it can be used for family members if you don't live together and see them regularly, such as visiting parents every weekend. However, if you live with them, you'd usually say you are 'always together' (いつも一緒 - itsumo issho) rather than just 'always meet'.

いつも会う implies a very high frequency, almost every time you're in a certain place or situation. よく会う means 'often meet,' which is regular but suggests slightly less consistency than 'always.'

There's no strict number, but it implies seeing them nearly every time you're in a relevant context. Daily or multiple times a week might qualify, depending on the situation. It's about the feeling of predictability and high consistency.

Yes, it can be used humorously or slightly negatively. For example, if you keep running into someone you're trying to avoid, you might say, 'Ugh, I *always* meet them!' (あいつ、いつも会うな…). The phrase itself is neutral, but the context and tone convey the feeling.

It's generally neutral to informal. You'd use it in casual conversations with friends or colleagues. In very formal business settings, you might use the more polite form お会いする (oai suru), like いつもお会いしております (itsumo oai shite orimasu), but even that implies a certain regularity.

Meeting someone twice a week could be considered いつも会う if that's the established routine and you see them almost every time you go to that place (like a gym or club). Otherwise, よく会う (often meet) might be more appropriate.

Generally, no. 会う specifically refers to meeting in person. For online interactions, you'd use verbs related to communication, like 話す (hanasu - to talk) or チャットする (chatto suru - to chat).

A frequent mistake is using it for scheduled events or rare encounters. For instance, saying 'I always meet my boss for the monthly report' is incorrect; it should just be 'I meet my boss' (上司に会います). いつも implies a much higher, often spontaneous, frequency.

You would use the past tense, like 昔はいつも会った (mukashi wa itsumo atta) or 昔はいつも会っていた (mukashi wa itsumo atte ita). This indicates a past habit of frequent encounters that is no longer happening.

Yes, it reflects the value placed on consistent social interaction and recognizing familiar faces within a community. The phrase acknowledges the predictable social fabric that often exists in Japanese society, whether in neighborhoods or workplaces.

Yes, it's very common in social media captions or comments, often in a casual or friendly tone. For example, you might post about happily meeting a friend again: 'また会えて嬉しい！いつも会う友達と！' (Happy to see you again! With the friend I always meet!).

If you meet someone every single day without fail, いつも会う is the perfect phrase! It accurately captures that absolute regularity. For example, '毎朝、隣の人にいつも会います' (I always meet my neighbor every morning).

You can use the polite form お会いする (oai suru). So, instead of いつも会う, you could say いつもお会いしています (itsumo oai shite imasu). This is suitable for professional contexts or when speaking to someone you need to show more respect to.

The most direct opposite would be 全然会わない (zenzen awanai), meaning 'don't meet at all.' Other opposites in terms of frequency could be たまに会う (tama ni au - meet occasionally) or めったに会わない (metta ni awanai - rarely meet).

Technically yes, if you happen to live somewhere you *always* see a specific celebrity (e.g., your neighbor is a minor local celebrity). However, it's more commonly used for people you know personally or interact with regularly in your daily life, not distant public figures.

You can't really use いつも会う for future plans of *always* meeting. You might say something like 'Let's make sure we meet often' (よく会いましょう - yoku aimashou) or 'I want to meet you often' (よく会いたいです - yoku aitai desu). The 'always' in いつも会う describes an existing reality.

Not inherently. The phrase itself implies predictability. However, you *can* add words like ばったり (battari - unexpectedly) to indicate you bumped into them unexpectedly, even though you *always* meet them. Example: 道でばったり、いつも会う人に会った (I bumped into the person I always meet on the street).

Yes! You typically use the particle に (ni) after the person you meet, like 友達に会う (tomodachi ni au - meet a friend). Sometimes と (to) is used, especially in more formal or written contexts, like 田中さんと会う (Tanaka-san to au), but に is more common in everyday speech for 会う.