Practise the thinking. Keep the judgement.
Japanese time and quantity: goro, gurai, hodo and more
English “about”, “only” and “already” each cover several Japanese patterns. Start by deciding what you are describing: a time point, a duration, a comparison, a limit or a change of state. The ending of the sentence matters as much as the particle.
ごろ / ころ and くらい / ぐらい
Use ごろ for an approximate point in time: 三時ごろ is around three o’clock. Use くらい or ぐらい for an approximate quantity or duration: 三時間ぐらい is about three hours. The two variants くらい and ぐらい usually share the same meaning here. ころ also appears in expressions such as 子どものころ, “when I was a child”; it is not limited to clock times. Do not confuse the particle くらい with the adjective 暗い, dark.
三時ごろ、駅に着きます。
さんじごろ、えきに つきます。
駅まで三十分ぐらいかかります。
えきまで さんじゅっぷんぐらい かかります。
ほど and より: degree and comparison
ほど can mark an extent: 眠れないほど means “to the extent that I cannot sleep”. In AはBほど〜ない, A does not reach B’s degree. より instead marks the reference point for a comparison: AはBより高い says A is more expensive or higher than B. Read the adjective and negative ending before deciding which item has more of a property. With quantities, ほど can also mean approximately; it does not always signal a comparison.
今日は昨日ほど寒くないです。
きょうは きのうほど さむくないです。
この本はあの本より高いです。
このほんは あのほんより たかいです。
だけ and しか〜ない: two ways to limit
だけ limits the item directly. しか requires a negative predicate in this basic pattern and excludes alternatives. 百円だけあります and 百円しかありません can both report that you have only 100 yen, but the second often highlights how little that is. Do not turn 百円しかありません into “I have no money”: the 100 yen remains. Particles can also combine, as in 私にだけ, only to me. The noun 鹿（しか）, deer, is a different word with the same sound.
今日は水だけ飲みました。
きょうは みずだけ のみました。
財布には百円しかありません。
さいふには ひゃくえんしか ありません。
ばかり: concentration versus recent completion
Noun + ばかり often describes concentration on one thing, sometimes with dissatisfaction: 甘い物ばかり, almost nothing but sweet food. Verb た-form + ばかり instead presents an action as recent in the speaker’s view. That interval is subjective; it is not a fixed number of minutes. Compare たところ for an action that has just finished at the immediate stage being described.
弟は甘い物ばかり食べています。
おとうとは あまいものばかり たべています。
先月、この町に引っ越してきたばかりです。
せんげつ、このまちに ひっこしてきたばかりです。
もう and まだ: already, still and not yet
もう with an affirmative past often means already; まだ with an ongoing state means still. まだ〜ていません means not yet, leaving room for the action to happen. もう〜ません commonly means no longer or will not any more. Do not translate もう as already without reading the ending. In もう一つ it means one more; this is a different use from completed action.
もう昼ご飯を食べました。
もう ひるごはんを たべました。
まだ昼ご飯を食べていません。
まだ ひるごはんを たべていません。
まで and までに: until versus by
まで gives an endpoint for a continuing action or range. までに gives a deadline by which something must happen or finish. Five o’clock can be either an end time for working or a deadline for submitting work; the verb decides which relation you need. から…まで marks a span from one point to another and can refer to places as well as time.
五時まで図書館で勉強します。
ごじまで としょかんで べんきょうします。
五時までに図書館に本を返します。
ごじまでに としょかんに ほんを かえします。
Check the meaning in context
1. Which expression means around seven o’clock?
七時（ ）出発します。
- だけ
- ごろ
- しか
- より
Answer and explanation
ごろ
ごろ makes the departure time approximate. だけ limits, しか needs a negative predicate, and より introduces a comparison or starting point; none gives the requested “around seven” meaning.
2. Which means “about two hours”, a duration?
- 二時間ぐらい
- 二時ごろ
- 二時間しかありません
- 二時までに
Answer and explanation
二時間ぐらい
二時間ぐらい approximates a duration. 二時ごろ is a time point, 二時間しかありません says only two hours are available, and 二時までに is a deadline at two o’clock.
3. Which day was colder?
今日は昨日ほど寒くないです。
- 今日
- 同じ
- 昨日
- 文では比較していない
Answer and explanation
昨日
The negative comparison says today does not reach yesterday’s degree of coldness. Yesterday was colder. It does not say both were equally cold or that no comparison is made.
4. How much money is in the wallet?
財布には百円しかありません。
- 零円
- 二百円
- 金額は不明
- 百円
Answer and explanation
百円
しか〜ない excludes amounts beyond the stated 100 yen. It does not negate the presence of that 100 yen, so zero is wrong; neither 200 yen nor an unknown amount matches the explicit statement.
5. Which sentence leaves lunch not yet eaten?
- もう食べました。
- まだ食べていません。
- もう一つ食べました。
- 今食べたばかりです。
Answer and explanation
まだ食べていません。
まだ食べていません means not yet eaten. もう食べました is already eaten; もう一つ adds another item eaten; 食べたばかり says eating has recently finished.
6. The report must be submitted by Friday. Choose the deadline expression.
金曜日（ ）レポートを出してください。
- しか
- ごろ
- までに
- ほど
Answer and explanation
までに
までに sets a deadline for submission. ごろ is approximate, which fails to set the required deadline. ほど expresses degree or approximate amount, and しか does not fit this affirmative request.
Where the rule stops
These are central uses, not every idiom containing these particles. Context can change emphasis: しか is not automatically a complaint, and ばかり is not a stopwatch. Translate the whole sentence before deciding whether a quantity is exact, approximate or limited.
Use it without the choices
Describe one appointment with ごろ and one journey with ぐらい. Then make two plans: an activity continuing until six with まで, and a task completed by six with までに. Say why exchanging those particles changes the plan.