LEARN + JAPANESE / 40 of 186 JLPT N4
About That Time, About That Many ごろ・くらい
You tell a friend to meet around eight and say the walk takes about twenty minutes. ごろ softens a point on the clock; くらい softens a duration or amount. Both mean “about,” but they attach to different kinds of measure.
I get to the office around 8 every day.
I get home around 7:30 every day.
Hint · 힌트
ごろ only pairs with a point on the clock or calendar, a specific moment you’re rounding off. 8時ごろ means “around 8 o’clock,” never “about 8 [of something],” that job belongs entirely to くらい.
I did about two hours of homework every day.
I worked about five hours of part-time work on the weekend.
Hint · 힌트
くらい measures a span or a count: how long something lasted, how much of something there is. 2時間くらい is “about two hours,” a stretch of time, not a point on the clock, which is exactly why it can’t swap with ごろ even though both translate as “about” in English.
For broader estimates, おおよそ means “approximately.” After a count, 弱[じゃく] means slightly under that amount, while 強[きょう] means slightly over. 僅[わず]かに describes a small change or difference.
It takes just under ten minutes to the station.
The population is approximately 500,000.
Sales increased slightly from the previous year.
In Real Life
Schedules often use 10分弱 and 1時間強 for quick estimates. These are compact approximations, not exact measurements; use 約 or おおよそ when you want to give a broad estimate instead.
Vocabulary
| Japanese | English |
|---|---|
| to arrive | |
| to begin (intransitive) | |
| to end | |
| practice | |
| subway | |
| slightly under (a stated amount) | |
| every morning | |
| every night | |
| minute | |
| hour, time | |
| slightly over (a stated amount) | |
| year | |
| approximately | |
| approximately | |
| precisely, exactly | |
| slightly, by a small amount | |
| or more | |
| or less | |
| to take (time, money) | |
| waking up early |
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