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凡そ

およそ

about; roughly; approximately; (with a negative) utterly; (as a rule) generally speaking

By Nihongo PathUpdated

Examples

  1. 駅まで凡そ二時間かかります。

    えきまでおよそにじかんかかります。

    It takes about two hours to the station.

  2. 会場には凡そ三百人が集まった。

    かいじょうにはおよそさんびゃくにんがあつまった。

    Roughly three hundred people gathered at the venue.

  3. 父の趣味は凡そ芸術的とは言えないものばかりだ。

    ちちのしゅみはおよそげいじゅつてきとはいえないものばかりだ。

    My father's hobbies are anything but artistic.

Common patterns

凡そ二時間
about two hours
凡そ見当がつく
to have a rough idea
凡そ～ではない
utterly not ...; far from ...

Memory tip

Two quite different jobs: before a number it means "approximately" (= だいたい), but before a negative it means "utterly not" — 凡そ意味がない, not a fuzzy "roughly meaningless". Usually written およそ; the longer おおよそ is a separate form used only for the approximation sense.

Kanji in this word

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What does 凡そ mean?