Potential Form

The potential form of verbs in Japanese expresses that either the speaker, or the subject (usually an animate object rather than an inanimate object in this case) of the conversation, possesses the ability to perform a particular action, for example: "I can ride a bike". A common mistake made by some students is that they use the potential form to write sentences like "the tree can burn in this hot weather". This sentence does not mean that the tree has the ability to burn, but means there is a possibility that it could burn. While students understand this difference in English, they are unable to make the distinction when writing in Japanese (mainly due to lack of grammar knowledge). To write sentences like the one above, students should use the "dictionary form + かもしれません" grammar pattern.

 

It should also be noted that the potential form is identical in meaning to the "dictionary form + ことができます" grammar pattern, and should be translated in the same way in English. All normal verbs which take the particle を before the verb take the particle が instead when it’s in its potential form. Other particles which verbs take (such as 行きます which takes the particle に) remain unchanged when the verb is in either normal or potential form.

 

Below are the rules on how to convert verbs in ~ます normal form to potential form and vice versa. Also note that the rules below will work the same way if the normal verb in question is in its ~ました, ~ません, ~ませんでした forms. Just do the same process as you would if the verb was in present ~ます form. 

 

Normal ~ますForm to Potential Form:

 

Regular I Verbs

 

First drop the ます part of the verb in question, revealing the verb stem. Next, change the variable character to its "e" sounding equivalent. Lets go over an example in detail:

 

Consider the verb はしります ("to run"). First remove the ます part of the verb, having the verb stem はしり remaining. Next convert the variable character り to its "e" sounding equivalent. To do this, consider where り lies in the Japanese character list. It lies in ら, り, る, れ, ろ. Hence, the "e" equivalent is れ. Finally add ます to "はしれ" to obtain the verb in its potential form, はしれます.

 

As you might’ve guessed, regular I verbs in their potential forms behave exactly the same way as ordinary regular II verbs in verb conjugation (eg: converting verbs in ~ます form to dictionary form) as the verb stem of the potential form verb now has an "e" sound.

 

Below are some more examples:

 

書きます –> 書けます (書ける)

わたります –> わたれます (わたれる)

ちがいます –> ちがえます (ちがえる)

立つ –> 立てる

すわる –> すわれる

 

Regular II Verbs

 

To convert, drop the ます part of the verb like earlier. Next add "られ" to the verb stem and then finally add ます. Here’s an example in detail:

Consider 食べます ("to eat"). First, remove ます to have the verb stem remain. Next add "られ" making the verb appear as "食べられ" and then finally add ます to obtain the verb in its potential form 食べられます.

 

It should also be noted that Japanese today, when speaking casually, prefer to omit the "ら" part of the potential verb regular II verb. So, considering 食べられる, some Japanese will say "食べれる" rather than "食べられる". However, do not be fooled. This is not an alternative form of grammatically correct casual speaking, as it is not yet approved by the Japanese government to be such. Many Japanese omit the "ら" from the potential verb mainly for speed and to make the verb easier to pronounce. Weaker students trying to speak/write with potential verbs without the "ら" will often have problems when attempting to use the "conditional ば" rule (compare the following: 食べる –> 食べれば (conditional ば) and 食べる –> 食べれる (plain potential form without "ら")). In addition, when writing in casual form in VCE, omitting "ら" is not acceptable as it is deemed "too casual" for the requirements of the course (not to mention the fact that because it hasn’t been approved by the Japanese government, you’re actually making a grammar mistake by omitting the character). Therefore students should ensure that they do not omit that character when writing in Japanese.

 

Some more examples:

 

もとめます –> もとめられます

出ます –> 出られます

おきます –> おきられます

きめる –> きめられる

あげる –> あげられる

 

Regular II Exceptions

 

There are only two exceptions in this group which must be understood by VCE students. These exceptions are with the verbs 見ます ("to see") and 聞きます ("to hear"). There are two different types of potential form for each of these verbs. In the case of 見ます, these two are: 見られます (by using the regular II rule above) and 見えます (this one must be memorised). In the case of 聞きます, these two are: 聞けます (by using the regular I rule above) and 聞こえます (again must be memorised). All four potential verbs behave exactly like normal regular II verbs when being conjugated into other forms. Let’s discuss the potential forms of 見ます in detail:

 

見られる and 見える are translated as "can watch" and "can see" respectively; both verbs are used in different contexts. 見られる is used in the context where one goes to watch something, like a movie. Whereas 見える is used in the context where one can actually see something with their eyes – in other words it’s visible to them (the textbook kookoo seikatsu 1 actually translates 見える as "to be visible" which I believe is a better translation than "can see"). Below are two examples distinguishing the difference:

 

私は今日いそがしいですから、あなたとえいがが見られません。

"I cannot see (watch) a movie with you today because I am busy."

 

ぼくはあの山で自てん車に乗る子どもが見えるよ。

"I can see a child riding a bike at that mountain!"

 

Now let’s go over the potential forms of 聞きます in detail:

 

聞ける and 聞こえる are translated as "can listen" and "can hear" respectively; these too are used in different contexts. 聞ける is used in the context where one listens to something, like a CD or tape. Whereas 聞こえる is used in the context where one can hear something – or it is audible to them (kookoo seikatsu 1 translates 聞こえる as "is audible" which I believe makes the meaning clearer). Below are two examples distinguishing the difference:

 

ぼくはあなたがくれたCDが聞けませんでした。

"I couldn’t listen to the CD (that) you gave me."

 

あなたはあの犬のこえが聞こえる？

"Can you hear that dog barking?"

 

 

Irregular Verbs

 

The following must be memorised rather than using a rule. This section can also be used to convert irregular verbs already in potential form to normal ~ます form.

 

来ます <—> 来られます (read as "こられます")

します <—> できます (surprising a number of students do not know this)

 

Do not ever write or say "することができる" when using the "dictionary form + ことができる" rule; it is grammatically incorrect and sounds silly.

An example where students might make this mix-up is trying to write "can study" in Japanese. Students may write 勉強することができます when all they should be writing is 勉強できます.

 

 

Potential Form to Normal ~ます Form:

 

Regular I Verbs

 

First, drop the "ます" part of the potential form verb, having its verb stem remaining. Next, convert the variable character of the verb stem to its "i" sound equivalent and finally add "ます" to this verb stem to obtain the normal ~ます form of the verb. Below are some examples:

 

行けます –> 行きます

言えます –> 言います

会える –> 会う

待てる –> 待つ

もらえる –> もらう

 

Regular II Verbs

 

Remove the "られ" part (or just "れ" if you have omitted "ら" in the first place, as discussed earlier) of the potential form verb to obtain the verb in the normal ~ます form. Below are some examples:

 

生きられます –> 生きます

おぼえられます –> おぼえます

わすれられる –> わすれる

見られる –> 見る

かぞえられる –> かぞえる

 

Below are some examples where potential form of verbs are used in context:

 

私は何もがっきができません。

"I cannot play any musical instruments."

 

ぼくは自てん車に乗れる

"I can ride a bike"

 

ぼくは日本語で一から三百までかぞえられる。

"I can count from 1 to 300 in Japanese."

 

ことばがすごくむずかしいですから、私は古だいしについての本がちゃんと読めません。

"I cannot read books about ancient history very well because the language is incredibly difficult."

(note: ちゃんと = properly or (doing something) well)

 

カメラのファインダーであなたのかおが見えないから、かおを少しさげて下さい。

"Because I cannot see your face in the viewfinder, please lower it a little."

(note: カメラのファインダー = viewfinder)

 

あなたが早く来れば、私たちは休ぎょうする前に銀行に行けます。

"If you come early, we can go to the bank before it closes."

(note: 休ぎょうする (きゅうぎょうする) = to close a store)

 

 

Thanks to Miho-sensei for explaining to us the usage of regular II verbs with "ら" omitted during class, as well as kindly explaining the differences between the regular II exception verbs while on her holiday. 😛