Translation guide
The English word "about" has many uses. This guide covers the most common ones for learners: approximation, topic, movement, and more.
Expressing an approximate number, time, or amount.
Placed before a number or quantity. Neutral and widely used.
約10分かかります。
It takes about 10 minutes.
About 100 people participated.
Attached after a number or quantity. Casual and very common in speech.
Wait about 10 minutes.
About 100 people came.
Same as くらい, but often used after certain sounds for euphony. Interchangeable in many cases.
I'll arrive in about 10 minutes.
More formal than 約. Often used in written or formal contexts.
It's a ruin from about 3000 years ago.
Means 'almost' or 'nearly', but can translate to 'about' when emphasizing closeness to a number.
About everyone agreed.
Introducing the subject or topic of conversation.
The most common way to say 'about (a topic)'. Attach to a noun.
I'm studying about Japan.
Let's talk about that problem.
More formal than について. Used in writing or formal speech.
Used as '〜に関する + noun' to mean 'about/concerning'. Formal.
Describing movement without a specific destination.
Used with verbs of movement to mean 'about/around'. あちこち means 'here and there'.
I walked about the town.
Attach to a place noun to mean 'all over' or 'about'. Emphasizes covering the area.
I ran about the park.
Onomatopoeic adverb for wandering about aimlessly.
Expressing that something is roughly in a certain state or degree.
Expressing that an action is imminent.
Both mean 'about', but くらい is more casual and follows the number, while 約 is more formal and precedes the number. くらい can also be used for non-numerical approximations like 'それくらい' (about that much).
about 10 minutes (casual)
about 10 minutes (neutral/formal)
について is only for topics. Saying '10分について' to mean 'about 10 minutes' is incorrect. Use 約 or くらい for numbers.
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環境に関する本を読んだ。
I read a book about the environment.
街をぶらぶらした。
I strolled about the town.
Well, it's about that.