How to Say ‘About how many minutes is it?’ in Japanese
何分ぐらいですか。
nan pun gurai desu ka
[nan foon goo-rah-ee dess kah]
💬 Usage Tip: 何分 is said (nan-pun), not (nan-fun). Put ぐらい after any amount to mean "about".
Phrase Breakdown
何
nan
[nan]
how many
何 asks how many when used with a counter like 枚.
何枚必要ですか。
How many do you need?
分
pun
[foon]
minute(s)
Used after numbers to count minutes.
十五分かかります。
It takes fifteen minutes.
ぐらい
gurai
[goo-rah-ee]
about; approximately
Makes the amount approximate rather than exact.
いくらぐらいですか、と丁寧に聞きます。
You politely ask, “About how much is it?”
です
desu
[dess]
is; polite copula
Polite form of 'to be' used in many basic sentences.
こちらで大丈夫です。
This is fine.
か
ka
[kah]
question particle
「か」で依頼を質問の形にします。語尾を上げると自然です。
手順を説明してもらえますか。
Could you explain the procedure?
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