Translation guide
The English word "around" has many meanings, from physical location to approximation. This guide breaks down the most common uses and shows how to express them naturally in Japanese.
Describing something that surrounds a place or is located in the general area.
Means 'surroundings' or 'vicinity'. Used for the area around something.
There are flowers blooming around the house.
Refers to a neighborhood or vicinity. Often used with place names.
Is there a post office around here?
More formal/literary word for 'surroundings' or 'periphery'.
The area around the building is enclosed by a wall.
Describing movement that goes in a circle or surrounds something.
Pattern meaning 'to go around something'. The verb 回る (まわる) means to spin or revolve.
The earth goes around the sun.
Direct object pattern for touring or going around a place.
We walked around the lake.
Onomatopoeic adverb meaning 'all the way around' or 'in a circle'.
Giving an approximate number, time, or quantity.
Prefix meaning 'approximately'. Used before numbers.
Around 100 people gathered.
Adverb meaning 'roughly' or 'about'. Very common in speech.
Suffix meaning 'about' or 'approximately'. Attached to quantities.
Wait around 10 minutes.
Suffix meaning 'around' or 'approximately' for times or ages, literally 'before and after'.
Describing scattered locations or movement without a fixed direction.
Physically turning to face the opposite direction.
To turn one's head/body to look back. Often used when someone calls your name.
I turned around when someone called my name.
To turn around and look back, often while walking. Also used metaphorically (look back on the past).
Formal phrase meaning 'to change direction' or 'turn around' (vehicles, plans).
The car suddenly turned around.
Moving so as to bypass something.
To detour or go around an obstacle. Common in traffic contexts.
Please go around due to construction.
To avoid something. Can be used for physical obstacles or abstract things.
Idiomatic phrase meaning 'to go around behind' or 'outflank', often used strategically.
They attacked by going around the enemy.
Indicating that something exists or is available in the current context.
English uses 'around' in many phrasal verbs and idiomatic expressions that have no direct Japanese equivalent. For example, 'hang around' is ぶらぶらする, 'fool around' is ふざける, and 'get around' (travel) is あちこち行く. Always consider the meaning first.
周り (まわり) emphasizes the immediate surroundings of a specific object, while 辺り (あたり) refers to a broader neighborhood or area. 家の周り means 'around the house' (garden, fence), while 家の辺り means 'the area near the house' (neighborhood).
犬がぐるっと回って寝た。
The dog turned around and lay down.
大体3時ごろ着くよ。
I'll arrive around 3 o'clock.
a woman around 30 years old
Compound verb meaning 'to walk around' (aimlessly or exploring).
I walked around the town.
休日は公園をぶらぶらするのが好きだ。
I like to wander around the park on my days off.
He turned around once and waved.
I walked around the puddle.