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Both ごとに and おきに appear to mean "repeatedly at intervals".

What is the difference between these two expressions?

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１日おきに = ２日ごとに (every other day, every second day)
●○●○●○●...

２日おきに = ３日ごとに (every three days, every third day)
●○○●○○●○○●...

ごとに(毎に) ごとに @weblio
おきに(置きに) 2日置きに @weblio

おき(置き) came from the verb 置く(leave). I think it's like "an interval (between the actions)" here. cf. 「[間隔]{かんかく}を[置]{お}く」

　

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    Nice usage of the black & white dots. Thanks for confirming my suspicions on the difference. But is there a way to say "Skip every third day" with おきに? Like ●●○●●○...?
    – istrasci
    Commented Feb 11, 2013 at 23:44
  • @istrasci う～～ん・・「３日に２日」かなあ・・・？？わからへん！ww
    – user1016
    Commented Feb 12, 2013 at 13:10
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    @istrasci: 三日に二日, which Chocolate mentioned, roughly means what you want, but I think that 三日に二日 refers more to the ratio 2/3 than the regular pattern of Yes-Yes-No-Yes-Yes-No-…. I do not think that there is a concise phrase which exactly describes this patter Yes-Yes-No-Yes-Yes-No-…, either in English or in Japanese, unless you count expressions such as 二日おきに休む as what you want.
    – Tsuyoshi Ito
    Commented Feb 12, 2013 at 17:50

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