Kanou Kei – Potential Form Verbs in Japanese

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

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

See 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] has turned into a negative potential [食べられません]. There are different ways and rules for transforming into the potential form. We will see?

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Verbs Ending in “U” [う]

To convert a verb ending in [U/う] into its potential form is simple. Just change the last syllable of the verb for one of 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. Always the potential form must be translated as: To achieve or To be able to do something (the verb in question).

Verb	Rōmaji	Meaning	V. Potential	Rōmaji Pt.
読む	Yomu	Read	読める	Yomeru
話す	Hanasu	Speak	話せる	Hanaseru
書く	Kaku	Write	書ける	Kakeru
遊ぶ	Asobu	Play	遊べる	Asoberu
待つ	Matsu	Wait	待てる	Materu
飲む	Nomu	Drink	飲める	Nomeru
取る	Toru	take	取れる	Toreru
死ぬ	Shinaked	To die	死ねる	Shineru
買う	Kau	Buy	買える	Kaeru
焼く	Yaku	Roasting	焼ける	Yakeru
学ぶ	Manabu	Learn	学べる	Manaberu
抱く	Daku	Hug	抱ける	Dakeru
泳ぐ	Oyogu	Swim	泳げる	Oyogeru

Such verbs also have their formal version. That 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 one might say [見れる].

In the negative form [られる] is replaced by [られない]. And the polite form exchanges [られる] for [られます].

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

Verb	Rōmaji	Meaning	V. Potential	Rōmaji Pt.
食べる	Eat	Eat	食べられる	taberaru
着る	Kiru	Dress	着られる	Kirareru
信じる	Shinjiru	Believe	信じられる	Shinjirareru
寝る	Neru	sleep	寝られる	Nerareru
起きる	Okiru	Rise	起きられる	Okirareru
出る	Deru	Let out	出られる	Derareru
掛ける	Kakeru	Grab	掛けられる	Kakerareru
調べる	Shiraberu	Examine	調べられる	Shiraberareru
見る	Miru	look/see	見られる	Mirareru
開ける	Akeru	Open	開けられる	Akerareru
落ちる	Ochiru	Fall	落ちられる	Ochirareru
遅れる	Okureru	Delay	遅れらせる	Okurerareru
慣れる	Nareru	Get used to	慣れられる	Narerareru

Irregular Verbs

There are also irregular verbs that do not follow any specific rules to be 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 over	来られる	korareru
愛する	Aisuru	Love	愛できる	Aidekiru

The article is still halfway through, but we recommend also reading:

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: Eating Meat / Getting Meat Eating;

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

Example 2: Read the book / I can/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 [MASU] way 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 manages to 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 [ます] way of saying the sentence was used first, while in the second sentence we also used the abbreviation leaving aside the syllable [ら].

This was just a brief article on Verbs in their potential form. This doesn't mean that you can freely assemble sentences, there are a lot of related things that we haven't studied yet.

Let's wait for a 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 from this article.