Kanou Kei – Verbs in the Potential Form in Japanese

In Japanese, the ability to perform a certain action is expressed by conjugating the verb. This serves to indicate whether something is possible to be done or not. For this, we use verbs in the potential form kanou kei [可能系].

Just like most verb conjugations in the Japanese language, we convert a verb from the dictionary form to the potential form by modifying its ending.

See the example sentence: I can’t eat raw fish.

生の魚が食べられません。
nama no sakana ga taberaremasen

In the sentence we just saw, the verb [食べる] transformed into the negative potential [食べられません]. There are different forms and rules for transformation into the potential form. Shall we see?

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Verbs Ending in “U” [う]

To convert a verb that ends in [U/う] into its potential form, it’s simple. Just replace the last syllable of the verb with one from the same family that ends with [E] followed by [RU], that is: [える/eru].

Examples:

The table below shows verbs ending in [U] being converted to the potential form. The potential form should always be translated as: To be able to do something (the verb in question).

• Read – 読む (Yomu) > 読める (Yomeru)
• Speak – 話す (Hanasu) > 話せる (Hanaseru)
• Write – 書く (Kaku) > 書ける (Kakeru)
• Play – 遊ぶ (Asobu) > 遊べる (Asoberu)
• Wait – 待つ (Matsu) > 待てる (Materu)
• Drink – 飲む (Nomu) > 飲める (Nomeru)
• Take – 取る (Toru) > 取れる (Toreru)
• Die – 死ぬ (Shinu) > 死ねる (Shineru)
• Buy – 買う (Kau) > 買える (Kaeru)
• Bake – 焼く (Yaku) > 焼ける (Yakeru)
• Learn – 学ぶ (Manabu) > 学べる (Manaberu)
• Embrace – 抱く (Daku) > 抱ける (Dakeru)
• Swim – 泳ぐ (Oyogu) > 泳げる (Oyogeru)

Such verbs also have their formal version. Instead of adding [RU], you should add {masu}. Here are some examples of the potential form [ます]:

• 読む > 読める > 読めます
• 撮る > 取れる > 取れます
• 抱く > 抱ける > 抱けます

Verbs Ending in “RU” (iru/eru)

For verbs ending in [いる] or [える], the only thing we need to do is replace the ending [る] with the ending [られる].

But be careful, in some informal conversations the ending may be ignored, or they may abbreviate and not say the [RE]. Example: [見る] in the potential form is [見られる], but in some rare conversations someone might say [見れる].

In the negative form, [られる] is replaced by [られない]. And the polite form replaces [られる] with [られます].

The next table shows the conversion of verbs ending in [RU] to their potential form.

• Eat – 食べる (Taberu) > 食べられる (Taberareru)
• Wear – 着る (Kiru) > 着られる (Kirareru)
• Believe – 信じる (Shinjiru) > 信じられる (Shinjirareru)
• Sleep – 寝る (Neru) > 寝られる (Nerareru)
• Get up – 起きる (Okiru) > 起きられる (Okirareru)
• Leave – 出る (Deru) > 出られる (Derareru)
• Hang – 掛ける (Kakeru) > 掛けられる (Kakerareru)
• Examine – 調べる (Shiraberu) > 調べられる (Shiraberareru)
• Look/See – 見る (Miru) > 見られる (Mirareru)
• Open – 開ける (Akeru) > 開けられる (Akerareru)
• Fall – 落ちる (Ochiru) > 落ちられる (Ochirareru)
• Be late – 遅れる (Okureru) > 遅れられる (Okurerareru)
• Get used to – 慣れる (Nareru) > 慣れられる (Narerareru)

Irregular Verbs

There are also irregular verbs that do not follow any specific rule for being transformed into the potential form. The best way to learn is to memorize the table below:

Verb	Rōmaji	Translation	Potential	Rōmaji
する	Suru	Do	できる	Dekiru
来る	Kuru	Come	来られる	korareru
愛する	Aisuru	Love	愛できる	Aidekiru

Performing the conjugation

In sentences where the potential form is used, the object is more commonly followed by the particle が (ga) than by を (o/wo).

Example: Eat Meat / Be able to eat meat;

niku wo taberu [肉を食べる]
niku ga taberareru [肉が食べられる]

Example 2: Read book / I can read the book;

hon wo yomu [本を読む]
hon wo yomeru [本が読める]

The way to conjugate the verb is quite simple. Just remember the rules and details. You can also use the formal way [MASU] as shown in the examples below:

She can’t wake up at six;

彼女は六時に起きられません。 
Kanojo wa roku-ji ni oki raremasen

He can wake up at six;

彼は六時に起きれます。
Kare wa roku-ji ni oki remasu

We note that the formal way [ます] was used first to say the sentence, while in the second sentence we also used the abbreviation leaving out the syllable [ら].

This was just a brief article about Verbs in their potential form. This does not mean that you can freely construct sentences, there are many related things that we have not studied yet.

Let’s wait for the next article to find other ways to express such sentences, and create some explanatory examples. Feel free to leave tips and suggestions for the next related article, or for us to add or correct something in this article.