Structure
Verb［る］+ ぐらいなら(1) + Phrase
(1) くらいなら
Details
Standard
About ぐらいなら
くらいなら will often be translated as 'would rather (B) than (A)', or 'better off (B) than (A)'. It is a grammar pattern that combines the adverbial particle usages of くらい 'about' and なら 'if' to imply that 'if it gets to the extent of (A), then (B)', where (B) will be something that is preferable. くらいなら will be used directly following verbs in their dictionary forms.
As this structure emphasizes (A) as being something that is undesirable, (B) will often contain statements that offer a solution, suggestion, or opinion, such as ほうがいい 'would be better to', ほうがましだ 'would be less bad', なさい 'do!'.
Caution
Although くらいなら will always follow a verb in dictionary form, the second half of the sentence may imply that (A) has actually already happened, and the speaker is wishing that it hadn't. In these cases, くらいなら almost always translates to 'if I had known that (A), then I would have (B)'.
Vocab Coverage
All Bunpro Vocab that appears on this item.
Examples
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「やらずに後悔するくらいなら、いっそやってみなさいよ。」
'Rather than regret not doing it, try it!'
「 こんなクソゲームを買うくらいならお金をドブに捨てたほうがよかった・・・」
'I would have been better off throwing money away than buying this gosh darn game…'
「その仕事は絶対に嫌だ。それに戻るくらいなら死んだほうがましだ。」
'I really hate that job. I would rather die than go back.'
「小さなことに目くじらを立てる人と一緒に生活するくらいならホームレスになったほうがましだ。」
'I would rather become homeless than live together with a person who nitpicks every little thing I do.'
Ａ：「愛Ｐｈｏｎｅの画面の修理は３万円からするよ。どうしようかな？」
Ｂ：「とっても高いよね！修理するくらいなら新しいのを買っちゃった方がいいかなあ。」A: 'My aiPhone screen repair cost starts at about 30000 yen! What should I do?'
B: 'Wha, that's super expensive! You would be better off buying a new one rather than repairing it.'Get more example sentences!
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ぐらいなら – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (1 in total)
Humin
I recently ran into this construction in the wild with a weird switching.
The construction says “[Phrase A]Verb[る] + くらいなら + [Phrase B]”, but is it possible to have Phrase B first with the more preferred option ending in Verb[た]あと?The construction I saw was [Phrase B]Verb[た]+あと…+[Phrase A]Verb[る]+くらいなら。