Japanese Potential Form Explained

This article will explore the Japanese potential form, which is a special verb conjugation pattern. How the potential form is used and formed will be explained.

The potential form is a special verb conjugation form which conveys a meaning of capability to perform the action in question. This may be a little confusing at first, as the ability or capability to perform an action in English and related languages is always accomplished with the aid of other verbs and adjectives, such as 'can', 'able', and their equivalents.

In case you are unfamiliar, there are three verb groups in the Japanese language. Group one verbs constitute all verbs except for the two exception verbs and a variety of verbs which end in る. Group two verbs are all of the verbs which end in る which do not follow group one verb conjugation rules and are conjugated by simply dropping the る ending. There are only two verbs in group three, and they are the two irregular verbs する and くる. Conjugating a verb into its respective potential form will depend on which group the verb in question belongs to.

To conjugate a group one verb into its respective potential form, the verb is first conjugated into its conditional/potential form stem and then the ending る is added. A group one's verb conditional/potential form stem is formed by changing the verb's 'u' infinitive ending hiragana with the corresponding hiragana which ends in 'e':

ぐ (gu) - げ (ge)

む (mu) - め (me)

ぶ (bu) - べ (be)

う (u) - え (e)

To conjugate a group two verb into its respective potential form, simply replace the る ending with られる.

Group Three only contains the two irregular verbs する and くる. Notice how the verb する (suru) - (to do) takes on a whole new form in its potential form - できる.

The potential form is used to express the capability of the subject to perform an action:

今朝起きられませんでした - (kesa okiraremasendeshita) - (I could not wake up this morning.)

Whenever you conjugate a verb into its respective potential form, the potential form verb can be further conjugated and suffixed and it follows group two る verb conjugation rules:

働ける (hatarakeru) - (can work) - 働けなかった (hatarakenakatta) - (could not work)

遊べる (asoberu) - (can play) - 遊べれば (asobereba) - (literal - 'if can play')

食べられる (taberareru) - (can eat) - 食べられて (taberarete) - (can eat - て form)

私の自転車を直せますか？(watashi no jitensya wo naosemasu ka) - (Can you fix my bicycle?)

漢字を読めなければその文書を分れません。(kanji wo yomenakereba sono bunsyo wo wakaremasen) - (If you cannot read kanji, you will not be able to understand that document.)