Japanese Grammar In Its Natural Habitat
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くらい / ぐらい

くらい / ぐらい

くらい / ぐらい Japanese Grammar Lesson

Grammar Type: Particle

Essential Meaning: About / Approximately / To that extent

Construction: 

  • Number + Counter + くらい
    • E.g. ４枚まいくらい [About 4 pages]
  • Demonstrative Pronoun + くらい
    • E.g. これくらい [About this much]
    • E.g. それくらい [About that much]
    • E.g. あれくらい [About that much]
    • E.g. どれくらい [About how much?]
  • Demonstrative Adjective + くらい
    • E.g. このくらい [To about this extent]
    • E.g. そのくらい [To about that extent]
    • E.g. あのくらい [To about that extent]
    • E.g. どのくらい [To about what extent?]
  • Interrogative Pronoun + くらい
    • E.g. いくらくらい [About how much?]

Notes:

  • くらい is used to refer to an approximate quantity or extent. With a physical quantity, Xくらい is equivalent to saying “Approximately X” or “About X“. With an extent, Xくらい is equivalent to saying “To X extent” or “To the extent of X“.
    • E.g. Quantity: 東京とうきょうからサンフランシスコまで飛行機ひこうきで九時間くじかんぐらいかかる。[It takes about 9 hours to go from Tokyo to San Fransisco by airplane.]
    • E.g. Extent: 山田やまださんぐらい英語えいごができれば楽たのしいでしょうね。[If I could speak English about to the extent that Yamada-san can, that would be fun.]
  • Demonstrative pronouns (e.g. これ [This], あれ [That], それ [That], どれ [Which]) and demonstrative adjectives (e.g. この [This X], あの [That X], その [That X], どの [Which X]) are basically used interchangeably when paired with くらい. However, there is a slight tendency for demonstrative pronouns to be used with quantities (e.g. number of physical objects) and for demonstrative adjectives to be used with extents (e.g. periods of time, distance between places).
    • E.g. 私わたしだってそれぐらいのことはわかりますよ。[Even I can’t understand things of that extent.]
    • E.g. 私わたしだってそのぐらいのことはわかりますよ。[Even I can’t understand things of that extent.]
  • くらい and ぐらい are totally interchangeable. In many cases, ぐらい simply rolls off the tongue better than くらい.

Example Sentences:

東京とうきょうからサンフランシスコまで飛行機ひこうきで九時間くじかんぐらいかかる。[It takes about 9 hours to go from Tokyo to San Fransisco by airplane.]

A: その車くるまはいくらぐらいでしたか。B: 150万まんくらいでした。[A: About how much was that car? B: It was about 15,000 USD. ]

スミスさんは京都きょうとに４ヶ月よんかげつくらい行いっていました。[Mr. Smith was in Kyoto for about 4 months.]

山田やまださんぐらい英語えいごができれば楽たのしいでしょうね。[If I could speak English about to the extent that Yamada-san can, that would be fun.]

私わたしだってそれぐらいのことはわかりますよ。[Even I can’t understand things of that extent.]

WILD Examples:

Listen to this opening line beginning at 0:27: どれくらいの値打ねうちがあるだろう、僕ぼくが今いま生いきているこの世界せかいに [About how much value is there, in this world where I am living]
Listen to this line at 0:42: 笑わらっちまうくらいに毎日まいにちはただもう過すぎてくあっという間まに [Every day passes by quickly to the extent that one can’t help but laugh]

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