くらい・
You name the one person or thing something is true of, and add: that's about it. Mostly spoken, and often wry or exasperated.
You're about the only one who forgets the deadline every single time.
About the only person who hears my long stories out is my grandmother.
How to form it
…のは + noun + くらい／ぐらいのものだ
What is true comes first, with のは. Then comes the one it is true of. くらい and ぐらい are the same.
- Before it
- A person (君, 彼, うちの母), a time (元日, …とき), a place or a thing.
- Tone
- A comment, not a count. Often wry or exasperated, sometimes grateful.
- In conversation
- のものだ turns into のもんだ, or drops: 君ぐらいだよ.
- Where you'll meet it
- Conversation, and essays and columns written in a talking voice.
In use
Hayashi is about the only person in this lab who can fix that machine alone.
About the only time in the year the town gets this quiet is New Year's morning.
About all I can do is listen.
With こと, the one thing can be something you do.
Mom's about the only one who'd ring at this hour.
The spoken もんだ.
What it adds to だけ
You're the only one going out on a day like this.
A flat fact: everyone else is staying in.
You're about the only one who'd go out on a day like this.
A comment, said with a shake of the head: who else would?
Close neighbours
しか～ないN4
"Only", with a negative verb: nobody but this one. くらいのものだ keeps a positive ending.
Hayashi is the only one who can fix that machine.
ほど・くらいN3
Elsewhere くらい measures: after a clause, "so … that"; after a number, "about". There ほど can often replace it. In "about the only one" it can't.
I was so tired I could have cried.
Check yourself
1What does this mean?
この
Choose an answer to see why.
2In which sentence is ぐらい "about the only one"?
Choose an answer to see why.
More sentences
He's about the only one who would take on a request this unreasonable.
About the only time a meeting ends on schedule is when not many people come.
About the only time he admits he's struggling is when he is truly cornered.
About the only pharmacy in this town that is open twenty-four hours is the one by the station.
A noun with は can open the sentence too.
Yamada is about the only one on the team who has never missed a practice.