around, about
Structure
- Noun + ごろ/ころ,
- Noun[の] + ころ,
- Verb + ごろ/ころ
Is there any rule for when nounのころ is used opposed to just nounころ with no の?
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Hey 
In general you use suffix after:
- precise time related suffixes (１時ごろ、２月ごろ）
- nouns expressing time 今、夜明け、（今ごろ、夜明けごろ、近頃）
- with words that express when like いつ、何 + time related suffix (いつごろ、何時ごろ、何月ごろ）
- seasons like 夏 (夏ごろ）
- 食べごろ、
のころ is used with demonstrative pronouns (このころ、そのころ、あのころ) and normal nouns (子供のころ、学生のころ)
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Excellent, thank you for the explanation!
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Heads up: there are no verb examples on the grammar page or any of the linked readings, and the verb example in this thread (食べごろ) uses a conjugated form (stem, I assume) while the structure section doesn’t specify which conjugation to use.
Also, my understanding is that ごろ is used specifically for time points, i.e. “around the time of _____”, while ぐらい, when used with time, is for time periods, i.e. “approximately ____”. Is that right?
The explanation seems a bit unclear/convoluted to me:
[ころ・ごろ is almost always exclusively used to highlight a point in time, while くらい・ぐらい is more often used to describe amounts]
Interpretation: ころ・ごろ for highlighting points in time (around six o’clock), くらい・ぐらい for amounts ((only) amounts of time?) (around six hours).
[ころ・ごろ and くらい・ぐらい are interchangeable when referring to more specific times (8時ごろ・くらい), but くらい・ぐらい cannot be used when referring to broader periods of time (○子供のころ
子供のくらい)]
Interpretation: ころ・ごろ and くらい・ぐらい can be used for more specific times (around six o’clock) - but doesn’t ころ・ごろ still highlight it? くらい・ぐらい cannot be used for broader periods of time (around six hours)? This sounds contradictory to the first explanation.
What do the two examples about kids have to do with the explanation? (EDIT: After reading the examples, I understand it’s about the time one was a child …)
[Conversely, ころ・ごろ cannot be used to estimate lengths (○２メートルぐらい
Interpretation: (When did lengths come in?) くらい・ぐらい for lengths, not ころ・ごろ. Any other exceptions? What about areas, volumes, temperatures, etc.?
A ころ is a somewhat blurry point in time (when does something happen?), while a くらい is something like a degree or extent and not specifically related to time, but can be used to make points in time or durations blurry, just like it can be used with quantities of other things (500円くらい etc.).
By “broad periods of time” they don’t mean long durations, but broadly defined periods in time like 子どもの頃 (~”when I was a child”). Only ころ can do this because it has the built-in time meaning and くらい does not. Another thing only ころ can do is express “the best time to do xyz” like in さくらの見頃.
くらい has a few different uses that bunpro has grammar points for, maybe looking at those helps too to avoid associating it with time too much.
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Does anyone know when you do/don’t use に after ころ/ごろ? The About section doesn’t mention it at all and I can’t see any pattern to it from the example sentences.
For example, why is 東京に行った友達は今ごろに着いているでしょう wrong?
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In a similar fashion, why no の after 時 for ころ? Is it because it’s considered a suffix? The examples insist on １時ころ…
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I’m having difficulties understanding why “goro” is used in this example instead of “gurai”:
東京に行った友達は今頃着いているでしょう。
“now” seems like a very short period of time, which is perfect for “gurai”. And this aligns just right with the following grammar explanation:
In this way, ころ could also be translated as ‘within the span of (A)’, while くらい is closer to ‘at the point of (A)’.
Or I’m just deeply confused and missing the general point and idea.
Hey @dharlequin !
The reason that ごろ is used here is because 今 is a noun and くらい is used after numbers of counter words.
Although the English translation is similar, because it is used after different kinds of words, using them interchangeably makes the sentence sound very unnatural!
Hope this answers your question!
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Thank you! This little piece of clarification seems like exactly what I was missing.