くらい ①
About, Approximately
Structure
Explanation
The words くらい and ぐらい (the latter being more frequent in conversation) have various functions in Japanese, but are commonly used to mean 'about' or 'approximately'. The origin is the kanji 位, which signifies a 'rank' or 'level'. In this usage, くらい is placed after a number or a counter.
- １０分くらい待った。I waited for about 10 minutes.
- 水を２杯ぐらい飲んだ。I drank about two glasses of water.
- 駅までどのくらいかかりますか？About how long does it take to get to the station?
The final example shows that くらい can also follow question words like どの to inquire about the degree or extent of something.
Because くらい originally means 'rank' or 'degree', it is not suitable for vague time frames. For these situations, ころ is the correct choice. When talking about a precise point in time, however, くらい and ころ are often interchangeable, as a specific time can be considered a type of degree or extent.
- ５時くらいに会おうか？How about we meet around 5?
- ５時ごろに会おうか？How about we meet around 5?
- 学生のくらいにたくさん本を読んだ。About when I was a student, I read many books. (Incorrect example, with unnatural English to match!)
- 学生のころにたくさん本を読んだ。I read a lot of books when I was a student.
Caution
For a more detailed comparison between these two grammar points, please refer to the entry for ころ.
Examples
パーティーに何人ぐらい来ますか。
Approximately how many people are coming to the party?
家から会社までバスで２０分ぐらいです。
It takes about 20 minutes from my house to my office by bus.
一日に水はどのくらい飲む？
Approximately how much water do you drink in a day?
私の犬は五歳ぐらいです。
My dog is about five years old.
昨日は８時間ぐらい寝ました。
I slept for about 8 hours yesterday.
この靴は一万円ぐらいでした。
These shoes cost about 10,000 yen.
塩はこれぐらいで十分ですか。
Is about this much salt enough?
十分ぐらいなら待てますよ。
If it's only about 10 minutes, I can wait.
午後三時ぐらいから雨が降るそうです。
I heard it's going to start raining from about 3 PM.
夏休みは７月の終わりぐらいからだよね。
Summer vacation starts from around the end of July, right?
週末は映画を二本ぐらい見ます。
I watch about two movies on the weekend.
この荷物は５キロぐらいあります。
This piece of luggage weighs about 5 kilograms.