How to Say ‘About twenty minutes.’ in Japanese
二十分ぐらいです。
nijuu pun gurai desu
[nee-jyuu poon goo-RAI dess]
💬 Usage Tip: 二十分 is said (nijuppun), not (nijū-fun): the 十 gets a small held beat before (pun). Put ぐらい after any amount to mean "about".
Phrase Breakdown
二十
nijuu
[nee-jyuu]
twenty
The number twenty, often used for servings or quantities in prep work.
今日は二十人分で二十を確認します。
For today's twenty servings, we confirm the number twenty.
分
pun
[poon]
minute(s)
Counter for minutes when talking about duration or clock minutes.
40分かかります。
It takes 40 minutes.
ぐらい
gurai
[goo-RAI]
about; approximately
Placed after a number or amount to show it is an estimate; a variant of くらい.
十分ぐらい待ちました。
I waited about ten minutes.
です
desu
[dess]
is; polite copula
A polite sentence ending used in formal conversation.
少し伺いたいです。
I would like to ask a little.
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