(1) Ano hon wa ikura ka shirimasen ga, tabun nisen-en-gurai deshō.
あの本はいくらか知りませんが、たぶん二千円ぐらいでしょう。
I’m not sure how much that book is, but it’s probably about two thousand yen.
(2) Ano hito wa gojū-gurai deshō.
あの人は五十ぐらいでしょう。
He is probably about fifty.
Although -gurai ぐらい is quite similar in meaning to its English counterparts such as “about” and “approximately,” it is probably used more often in Japanese than “about” or “approximately” are in English because of the Japanese speaker’s reluctance to be too precise, definite, or specific. Japanese speakers often say to a salesclerk Mittsu-gurai kudasai 三つぐらいください (lit., “Give me about three”), for example, even when they want exactly three of something. This is the same psychology that leads them to say nan-ji-goro 何時ごろ “about what time” instead of nan-ji 何時 “what time.”
-Gurai ぐらい is different from -goro ごろ (see -GORO) in that the latter is specifically for points in time (e.g., san-ji-goro 3 時ごろ “about 3 o’clock” and roku-gatsu-goro 6 時ご ろ “about June”) while the former is for amounts of anything. Some native speakers of Japanese do occasionally use -gurai with a word indicating a point in time, e.g., ni-ji-gurai 2 時ぐらい instead of ni-ji-goro 2 時ごろ for about 2 o’clock.” This particular use of -gurai ぐらい, however, is not really advisable.
Gyaku 逆 opposite; reverse
Gyaku 逆 and hantai 反対 are both translated as “opposite” and are often used interchangeably. For example, in sentence (1), either may be used.
EXAMPLE:
(1) Kyū ni gyaku/hantai no hōkō kara kare ga arawareta node bikkuri-shita.
急に逆/反対の方向から彼が現れたのでびっくりした。
I was surprised to see him suddenly appear from the opposite direction.
However, there is a slight difference in connotation. Gyaku 逆 connotes “the opposite of what’s normal or correct,” whereas hantai 反対 has no such connotation. For example,
EXAMPLE:
(2) Ichi kara jū made gyaku ni itte mite kudasai.
一から十まで逆に言ってみてください。
Please try saying 1 through 10 backwards.
When one recites 1 through 10, one usually does it in normal order, i.e., ichi 一, ni 二, san 三, . . . Saying the numbers backwards, i.e., jū 十, kyū 九, hachi 八, . . . would be contrary to the norm. In sentence (2), therefore, hantai ni 反対に would sound a little strange. Even in sentence (1) above, that difference is still there. The expression gyaku no hōkō 逆 の方向 connotes “direction contrary to my expectation,” whereas hantai no hōkō 反対の 方向 simply means “opposite direction.”
Ha
Habuku 省く basically means “to leave out” or “to omit,” as in
EXAMPLE:
(1) Nihongo de wa bun no shugo o habuku koto ga ōi.
日本語では文の主語を省くことが多い。
In Japan, the subject of a sentence is often left out.
In this sense, habuku 省く is very much like ryakusu 略す, which also can mean “to omit.” Ryakusu 略す, therefore, can be used instead of habuku 省く in sentence (1). Ryakusu, however, is different in the sense it also means “to abbreviate,” as in
EXAMPLE:
(2) “Terebi” wa “terebijon” o ryakushita mono da.
「テレビ」は「テレビジョン」を略したものだ。
Terebi is an abbreviation of terebijon.
Habuku 省く has no such meaning.
Hadaka 裸 naked
To be described as hadaka 裸, one does not have to be completely naked. A Japanese fisherman with nothing but a loincloth on may be described as hadaka. If a boy is lying down with nothing covering his upper body, his mother might say Hadaka de nete-iru to kaze o hikimasu yo 裸で寝ていると風邪をひきますよ “You’ll catch a cold if you lie down half-naked.” In a pickup basketball game in America, if one of the teams is shirtless, its members are called the Skins. Their Japanese counterparts would be referred to as Hadaka.
To convey the meaning “completely naked,” one would have to say mappadaka 真っ 裸 (lit., “truly naked”).
Ha
Once an American student wrote sentence (1) in a composition.
EXAMPLE:
(1) *Amerika no sensei wa gakusei ga shitsumon o kiku koto o hagemasu.
*アメリカの先生は学生が質問を聞くことを励ます。
American teachers encourage their students to ask questions.
Aside from the fact that shitsumon o kiku 質問を聞く should be replaced by shitsumon o suru 質問する to mean “to ask questions,” the above sentence is wrong in that hagemasu 励ます is not used correctly. Hagemasu basically means “to encourage someone who is down-hearted,” as in
EXAMPLE:
(2) Nyūgakushiken ni ochita tomodachi o hagemashita.
入学試験に落ちた友達を励ました。
I encouraged a friend who flunked an entrance exam.
Sentence (1) should probably be rephrased as below.
EXAMPLE:
(3) Amerika no sensei wa gakusei kara no shitsumon o kangei-suru.
アメリカの先生は学生からの質問を歓迎する。
American teachers welcome questions from their students.
Ha
Hageshii 激しい in the sense of “violent” may be used to describe weather-related things such as kaze 風 “wind,” ame 雨 “rain,” arashi 嵐 “storm,” and yuki 雪 “snow.” It may also serve an adjective for kotoba 言葉 “words,” kanjō 感情 “feelings,” etc., as in:
EXAMPLE:
(1) Hageshii kotoba o butsuke-atta.
激しい言葉をぶつけ合った。
They hurled fiery words at each other.
Hageshii 激しい, however, is inappropriate for describing such things as societies and movies. For