ぶりに (buri ni)
～ぶりに — for the first time in ～ (a period)
Pattern
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期間を表す名詞 ＋ ぶりに ＋ 動詞period + ぶりに: 十年ぶりに帰った -
久しぶりに久しぶりに = after a long time (fixed expression)
How it is used
The period is the gap since the last time. 十年ぶりに故郷へ帰りました means ten years had passed since the last visit. The feeling is often emotional or positive, like a reunion or a return of good weather.
Points to watch
The period must be a measurable length (a specific time), and the action has happened before. It is not used for something happening for the first time ever. Do not use it for a very short span, like 五分ぶりに.
Examples
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十年（じゅうねん）ぶりに故郷（こきょう）へ帰（かえ）りました。
Jūnen buri ni kokyō e kaerimashita.
I returned to my hometown for the first time in ten years.
-
三年（さんねん）ぶりに友（とも）だちと再会（さいかい）した。
Sannen buri ni tomodachi to saikai shita.
I met my friend again for the first time in three years.
-
一週間（いっしゅうかん）ぶりに晴（は）れて、洗濯物（せんたくもの）を干（ほ）した。
Isshūkan buri ni harete, sentakumono o hoshita.
The sun came out for the first time in a week, so I hung out the laundry.
Common mistakes
- It needs a period (十年ぶり), not a point in time (十年前ぶり).
- Not for the very first time in your life; it only fits something that has happened before.
More grammar points
- 中（ちゅう） ～中 (ちゅう／じゅう) — during ～, within ～
- ふと ふと — suddenly, on an impulse
- ごとに ～ごとに — every ～, at each ～
- 一度（いちど）に 一度に — all at once
- から〜にかけて ～から～にかけて — from ～ through ～
- にかけて ～から～にかけて — spanning from ～ to ～
- につれて ～につれて — as ～ progresses, ～ changes
- 際（さい）に ～際に — at the time of ～ / when ～
- 最中（さいちゅう）に ～最中に — right in the middle of ～
- しばらく しばらく — for a while
- すでに すでに — already
- たとたん ～たとたん — “the moment ～”
- たびに ～たびに — “every time ～”
- てはじめて ～てはじめて — “only after ～ing”
- てからでないと ～てからでないと — “not unless ～ first”
- 途中（とちゅう）で/途中（とちゅう）に 途中で／途中に — “on the way / partway through”
- ついに ついに — “finally / in the end”
- うちに ～うちに — “while ～ / before it changes”
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