くらい details

Examples

about; roughly — softens a quantity into an estimate

あと五分ごふんぐらいで着つくよ。

ato gofun gurai de tsuku yo.

I'll be there in about five more minutes. casual

駅えきまで歩あるいて十五分じゅうごふんくらいかかります。

eki made aruite juugofun kurai kakarimasu.

It takes about fifteen minutes to walk to the station. neutral

so … that; enough to — a clause names the extent of a state

涙なみだが出でるくらい嬉うれしかった。

namida ga deru kurai ureshikatta.

I was so happy I nearly cried. neutral

立たっていられないくらい会場かいじょうは混雑こんざつしておりました。

tatte irarenai kurai kaijou wa konzatsu shite orimashita.

The venue was so crowded one could barely stay standing. formal

at least; something as small as — presents N as a trivial minimum

遅おくれるなら電話でんわくらいしてよ。

okureru nara denwa kurai shite yo.

If you're going to be late, the least you could do is call. casual

Formation

{N}くらいattaches to noun
〜するくらいattaches to plain clause

Notes

The extent sense swaps with ほど in positive sentences, but only ほど survives the comparative negative (Bほど高くない) and only くらい does the minimizing job. ぐらい and くらい are the same word — the old prescription (ぐらい after nouns, くらい after この・その) is dead.

Related patterns

Similar

ばかり
Both follow a numeral to mean "about" (十分ばかり／十分くらい), but the ばかり approximation now reads dated and bookish while くらい is the living default — 二日ばかり in modern speech signals deliberate old-fashionedness.
ほど〜ない
In positive extent clauses ほど and くらい trade places freely (死ぬほど／死ぬくらい疲れた), but the comparative negative admits only ほど — ×Bくらい高くない — and only くらい carries the minimizing "at least" reading.