immersionlog

ぐらい・くらい

about (an amount)

Amount + ぐらい / くらい

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ぐらい (or くらい, which is the same word) after an amount means "about" or "roughly": 十分ぐらいかかります, "it takes about ten minutes"; 二十人ぐらい来ました, "about twenty people came".

どのぐらい asks "how long", "how far" or "how much": 駅までどのぐらいかかりますか.

Compare ごろ, the next point. ごろ is "around" a point in time (三時ごろ, around three o'clock); ぐらい is "about" an amount (三時間ぐらい, about three hours). You'll hear ぐらい used for clock times too in casual speech, but keeping them apart is the safe habit.

Examples

  • 駅えきまで十分じゅっぷんぐらいかかります。

    It takes about ten minutes to the station.

  • 毎日二時間まいにちにじかんぐらい勉強べんきょうします。

    I study for about two hours a day.

  • パーティーには二十人にじゅうにんぐらい来きました。

    About twenty people came to the party.

  • 東京とうきょうから大阪おおさかまでどのぐらいかかりますか。

    How long does it take from Tokyo to Osaka?

  • このかばんは五千円ごせんえんぐらいでした。

    This bag was about 5,000 yen.

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