Japanese Grammar In Its Natural Habitat

ごろ

ごろ Japanese Grammar Lesson

Grammar Type: Suffix

Essential Meaning: About / Around (a specific point in time)

Construction: 

  • Time Noun + ごろ (に)
    • E.g. 3時じごろ(に) [Around 3 o’clock]

Notes:

  • ごろ (に) is used similarly to the English prepositions “Around” or “About” in order to indicate an approximate time (e.g. “Around 2 P.M.” or “Around next March“).
    • E.g. 十時じゅうじごろまで寝ねていました。[I was asleep until around 10.]
  • ごろ is used with specific points in time rather than with general periods. However, what constitutes a “specific” point in time depends on the time horizon; as the time horizon expands, time frames become relatively more specific. For example, “This evening” is not very specific, but “Next Friday evening” is, even though both examples express a single evening.
    • E.g. *夜よるごろテレビを見みていました。[I was watching TV around last evening.] In this context, 夜よる [Evening] is too imprecise, and the sentence just feels strange.
    • E.g. 午後ごご七時しちじごろ映画えいがを見みた。[I watched a movie at around 7 PM in the evening.] 7 PM is a very specific time, so ごろ is appropriate in this case.
    • E.g. 2040ごろアメリカに行いくつもりだ。[I plan to go to America around 2040.] With such a long time window, 2040 comes across as fairly specific.
  • ごろ is similar to but different from くらい / ぐらい. Specifically, ごろ expresses a point in time, while くらい / ぐらい expresses a quantity of time.
    • E.g. 僕ぼくは三時さんじごろ寝ねました。[I went to bed around 3 o’clock.]
    • E.g. 僕ぼくは三時間さんじかんぐらい寝ねました。[I slept for around 3 hours.]

Example Sentences:

鈴木すずきさんは朝あさ七時しちじごろうちを出でる。[Mr. Suzuki leaves his house at around 7 A.M.]

A: いつごろ北京ペキンに行いきますか。B: 来年らいねんの六月ろくがつごろ行いきます。[A: Around when are you going to visit Beijing? B: I’m going around next June.]

A: 今朝けさは何時なんじごろまで寝ねていました。B: 十時じゅうじごろまで寝ねていました。[A: This morning, until around what time did you sleep? B: I slept until around 10 A.M.]

去年きょねんの今いまごろは大雪おおゆきでしたね。[Around this time last year there was heavy snow, right?]

WILD Examples:

The first line of this song goes as follows: このごろとてもお母かあさんのことを懐なつかしく思おもい出だす [Nowadays, I nostalgically remember my mother]
Listen to this line at 0:48: いまごろ誰だれかに夢中むちゅう [These days I’m crazy about someone]

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