～くらい
approximate extent or degree
～くらい (also pronounced ぐらい) marks a point on a scale. After a number it means “about, approximately”; after a clause it means “to the extent that ~”, like English “so ~ that ~”.
1. Approximate amount
After a quantity like time, money, distance, people, くらい softens it into a rough estimate.
駅まで十分くらいかかります。
“It takes about ten minutes to the station.”
- 駅（えき）= station
- まで = to, as far as
- 十分（じゅっぷん）= ten minutes
- くらい = about, approximately
- かかります = takes (time)
2. Extent or degree
After a clause, くらい gives a vivid measure of how strong something is: the feeling or situation reaches the level described in the clause.
泣きたいくらい嬉しかった。
“I was so happy I could have cried.”
- 泣きたい（なきたい）= want to cry (泣く plus ～たい)
- くらい = to the extent that
- 嬉しかった（うれしかった）= was happy
How to form it
Number / noun + くらい, or plain-form clause + くらい
- 三十分（さんじゅっぷん）= thirty minutes → 三十分くらい = about thirty minutes
- これ = this → これくらい = about this much
- 泣きたい（なきたい）= want to cry → 泣きたいくらい = so much that one could cry
Key idea
くらい answers the question “how much?” with a rough landmark, either a round number “about ten minutes” or a concrete image of how far something goes “enough to make me cry”.
Other N4 grammar
Updated .