The Meeting’s at Three, and I Won’t Have to Wait ことになっている・ずに済む

These patterns distinguish schedules, assumptions, and avoided actions. ことになっている describes a rule, arrangement, or schedule already established. つもりで means “with the intention of” or “as if,” depending on the context. ずに済む means an action can be avoided, often with a sense of relief. 思うように describes whether something goes as one hopes or expects.

ことになっている describes a decided arrangement or rule. It does not necessarily mean the speaker personally made the decision. For a personal decision, ことにしている or ことにした is more appropriate.

つもりで can express intention, but it can also frame an action as if something were true: 親のつもりで助言する, “give advice as if I were a parent.” 思うように often appears with いかない to mean things do not go as planned. だけは can emphasize doing everything one can: できるだけはやってみた, “I did as much as I could.”

ずに済む describes avoiding an action or difficulty. It follows a negative verb stem; する becomes せずに. It often conveys relief that an undesirable action was unnecessary.

Vocabulary