Grammar › Quantity › 〜くらい/ぐらい

Grammar · about / approximately

〜くらい / ぐらい

"About", "roughly", "-ish". Stick it after a number or amount to stop committing to an exact figure — the two spellings mean the same thing.

The short version

Put くらい (or ぐらい) after an amount to make it approximate: 3さん週間しゅうかんくらい = "about 3 weeks", 5ぐらい = "around 5 o'clock". It works with amounts, times, prices, distances — anything you'd round.

3さん週間しゅうかんくらい — about 3 weeks
5ぐらい — around 5 o'clock

くらい — approximate amounts

The everyday "about". Reach for it whenever you don't want to sound like you're quoting an exact number.

And this time, about three weeks. (approximate span)
I wake up around 5 in the morning, and… (くらい + に for a rough time)
This was about five years ago. (approximate point in the past)

ぐらい — the same word, voiced

ぐらい is just くらい with the k softened to g. Same meaning, and in speech you'll actually hear it slightly more often.

About 30 degrees. (ぐらい = くらい)
Around 6 in the morning. (rough time + に)

Also: "to that extent"

Beyond numbers, くらい/ぐらい can mark a degree — "to the point of", "that much". Here it's not counting anything, just measuring how much.

It was that hot. (くらい = extent, not a number)

Watch out

🗣 くらい and ぐらい are interchangeable. There's no difference in meaning — pick either. Rough rule of thumb: ぐらい feels a hair more casual and is common after numbers in speech; くらい shows up more in writing. Don't overthink it.
Don't confuse it with ごろ. ごろ also means "about", but only for points in time3さんごろ (around 3). くらい/ぐらい covers durations and amounts too — 3さん時間じかんくらい (about 3 hours).
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