Grammar Info

N4 Lesson 8: 7/18

れる・られる (Potential)To be able, Can (Potential)

In Japanese, the potential is considered to be something beyond the control of a person.

Structure

Examples:
[る1]Verb() + られる(1)
[る5]Verb(すわ) + れる
[う]Verb(うた) + える
[く]Verb(ある) + ける
[す]Verb(はな) + せる
[つ]Verb() + てる
[ぬ]Verb() + ねる
[ぶ]Verb() + べる
[む]Verb(やす) + める
[ぐ]Verb(およ) + げる

Exceptions:
するできる

(1) ()れる、ら()言葉(ことば) (casual). Some may consider it not grammatical.

Details

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About れる・られる (Potential)

In addition to 'passive' verbs, れる and られる (the auxiliary verbs) are used when expressing possibility '可能(かのう)'.

られる will be attached to the base form of る-Verbs (the form after る has been removed). Note also that れる and られる themselves behave like standard る-Verbs, so can be conjugated into a variety of different tenses in the same way as a standard verb.

A common sight in modern Japanese is words where the ら may be removed, 'ラ()言葉(ことば)', and れる may be used by itself. However, this is not technically correct Japanese, and may cause confusion in cases where ら is required (with る-Verbs and くる, when られる is expressing 'passivity', 'respect', or 'spontaneous occurrence').

For う-Verbs, they will behave a little differently. Instead of the final kana of the verb changing to an あ sound, and then adding れる (as would be the case with passive verbs), the final kana of the verb will change to an え sound (る will become れ, う will become え, す will become せ, etc.) before adding る.

Interestingly, する verbs do not have a 'potential' form, and the verb できる will be used in its place.

Caution

ことができる and られる (when used in its 'potential' meaning) have exactly the same nuance. However, many people consider ことができる to be slightly more polite.

Fun Fact

When using the potential form, either or may be used to mark the 'object'. You will need to be careful though, as this does not apply to できる, which may only ever use .

  • やっとシャワー()られる
    I can finally take a shower!
  • あなた(なに)()られる
    What can you eat?
  • トム日本語(にほんご)フランス()英語(えいご)(はな)ことができる
    Tom is able to speak Japanese, French, and English.

Examples

--:--

    あの(やま)()られます

    Can you see that mountain over there?

    彼女(かのじょ)(はなし)(しん)じられない

    I cannot believe her story.

    10(ぷん)()てます

    Can you wait 10 minutes?

    (わたし)()映画(えいが)()られたらいい

    I hope that you can see the movie I like.

    ()つけられなくてすみませんでした。

    I am sorry that I was unable to find it.

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れる・られる (Potential) – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (49 in total)

  • kush

    kush

    I think it is used to connect the ない to the すみません because there should be a て before すみません.
    Hopefully this is useful to you

  • EdBunpro

    EdBunpro

    @Glaciem52 It appears to be following the formula outlined in the て+すみません lessons, which can be found here, in particular the end of the first paragraph which explains the 2 different ‘meanings’ that て can carry in cases like this.

  • Glaciem52

    Glaciem52

    Thank you so much !! I understand it now

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