くらい or
ぐらい (more common in spoken language) has several different uses in Japanese, but is often translated as ‘about’, or ‘approximately’. It comes from the kanji 位(くらい), which literally means a ‘rank’, or ‘grade’ of something. This use of
くらい comes after numbers, or counter words.
As can be seen in the last example,
くらい may also be used after question words such as
どの, when asking about the extent (grade) of something.
Due to the original meaning of
くらい being ‘rank’, or ‘extent’, it may not be used when referring to broad periods of time.
ころ will be used in these situations. However,
くらい and
ころ may be used interchangeably when referring to a specific time (due to a specific time may being able to be thought of as an extent).
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8時(じ)くらいでもいい?
Is about 8 okay?
-
8時(じ)ごろでもいい?
Is about 8 okay?
-
子供(こども)のくらいにディズニーに行(い)った。
About when I was a kid, I went to Disneyland. (Incorrect example, with unnatural English to match!)
-
子供(こども)のころにディズニーに行(い)った。
I went to Disney when I was a kid.
Please see the ころ grammar point if you would like to compare these two structures further.