Uki Uki NihonGO + Culture! – Lesson 29 – Audience Questions

January 27, 2016 - January 27, 2016
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 ウキウキQ&A Part 7

Today’s question is from Pepper Whaling

Q: When would one use ごろ and ぐらい?

ごろ and ぐらい both mean "approximately" or "about" when the exact information is not available or if you don’t want to be exact.

They mean the same thing, but you use them differently.

ごろ is used for time expressions, specifically a point in time (as opposed to length in time).

Examples:

around 5 o’clock = 5時頃

5時頃に駅で会いましょう。(Goji goro ni eki de aimashou.)
Let’s meet at the station around 5.

around noon = お昼頃

お昼頃に休憩します。(Ohiru goro ni kyuukei shimasu.)
I’ll take a break around noon.

around Wednesday = 水曜日頃

水曜日頃に仕上げられると思います。(Suiyoubi goro ni shiagerareru to omoimasu.)
I believe I can get this done around Wednesday.

around 1980 = 1980年頃

このビルは1980年頃に建てられました。(Kono biru wa senkyuuhyakuhachijuu-nen goro ni tateraremashita.)
This building was constructed around 1980.

On the other hand, くらい can be used for all kinds of information, including a point in time as well as length of time, weight, distance, height, number of people, temperature, speed, etc.

Note: You can say either くらい or ぐらい. Both are common.

Examples:

around 5 o’clock = 5時ぐらい (or 5時頃)

about 13 hours = 13時間ぐらい

東京からNYまで13時間ぐらいかかります。(Toukyou kara NY made juusan-jikan gurai kakarimasu.)
It takes around 13 hours to fly from Tokyo to NY.

approximately 30 degrees = 30度くらい

今日の気温は30度ぐらいです。(Kyou no kion wa sanjuu-do gurai desu.)
Today’s temperature is about 30 degrees.

around 100 people = 100人ぐらい

パーティーには100人ぐらい来ました。(Pa-Ti- niwa hyaku-nin gurai kimashita.)
Around 100 people came to the party.

about 3 kilometers or 3 kilograms = 3キロぐらい

夏までに3キロくらい痩せたいんです。(Natsu made ni san-kiro kurai yasetaindesu.)
I want to lose about 3 kilograms by the summer.

about 300 kilometers per hour = 時速300キロぐらい

新幹線は時速300キロぐらいの速さで走ります。(Shinkansen wa jisoku sanbyaku-kiro gurai no hayasa de hashirimasu.)
Shinkansen runs at the speed of 300 kilometers per hour.

Summary:

ごろ is only for a point in time, and ぐらい is for pretty much everything.

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  • Jan 27, 2016 at 12:00 am