Chapter 1 — The Potential Form: "Can Do"

Welcome to Stage 2. The verb system you learned in Stage 1 gave you the tools to say what someone does, did, is doing, or wants to do. This chapter adds a new dimension: what someone can do. The potential form expresses ability, possibility, and capacity. It appears constantly in daily Japanese — asking whether someone speaks a language, whether a restaurant can accommodate dietary restrictions, whether a train ticket can be purchased online. Without the potential form, you are limited to describing actions without ever addressing whether those actions are possible.

The potential form also introduces an important structural shift: a change in particle usage that reflects a genuine difference in how Japanese conceptualizes ability versus action. Understanding this shift is essential for parsing natural Japanese correctly.

1.1 Formation of the Potential Form

The potential form is built differently for each verb class, but the result is always the same: a new verb that means "can do [the original action]."

五段 Verbs

For 五段 verbs, the formation follows a simple pattern: change the final う-row sound to the corresponding え-row sound, then add る.

The pattern is consistent across all 五段 verbs with no exceptions. If you know which う-row sound maps to which え-row sound — and you do, because the かな chart has the same consonant running through each row — you can form the potential of any 五段 verb immediately.

日本語が　読める。 "I can read Japanese."

この　みせで　さかなが　買える。 "You can buy fish at this shop."

あの　かわで　泳げる。 "You can swim in that river."

一段 Verbs

For 一段 verbs, drop the final る and add られる.

あさ　六時に　起きられる。 "I can wake up at six in the morning."

この　レストランで　にくが　食べられる。 "You can eat meat at this restaurant."

Irregular Verbs

The two irregular verbs have unique potential forms that must simply be memorized.

できる is one of the most common verbs in Japanese. It does not look anything like する, and it does not follow any pattern. Memorize it as a completely separate word.

あした　来られる？ "Can you come tomorrow?"

りょうりが　できる。 "I can cook." (Literally: "cooking can be done")

1.2 Potential Verbs Conjugate as 一段

This is a critical point. Regardless of what class the original verb belongs to, the potential form always conjugates as a 一段 verb. This means that 書ける, despite coming from the 五段 verb 書く, follows 一段 conjugation patterns.

This makes conjugation straightforward once you have formed the potential. You never need to worry about 五段 sound changes when conjugating a potential verb — the original class no longer matters.

きのう　はやく　起きられなかった。 "I couldn't wake up early yesterday."

日本語が　話せるように　なりたい。 "I want to become able to speak Japanese."

かんじが　読めなくて　こまった。 "I couldn't read the kanji and was troubled."

1.3 Particle Shift: を → が with Potential

When you use the potential form, the object particle を frequently shifts to が. Compare:

Non-potential (action):

日本語を　話す。 "I speak Japanese."

Potential (ability):

日本語が　話せる。 "I can speak Japanese."

This is not a random quirk. The potential form describes a state — a capacity that exists — rather than an action being performed on an object. The subject of that state is the thing that "can be done," marked with が. This is closer to the logic of "Japanese is speakable (to me)" than "I speak Japanese."

More examples:

ピアノが　弾ける。（ひける） "I can play the piano."

おすしが　食べられる。 "I can eat sushi."

この　字が　読める。（じ） "I can read this character."

In practice, both を and が appear with potential verbs. Using を is not grammatically wrong, and in modern spoken Japanese を is increasingly common. However, が remains the more traditional and more common choice, and you will encounter it far more often in written Japanese. When parsing text, recognizing this particle shift will help you identify potential constructions quickly.

1.4 ら抜き言葉 — A Spoken Reality

The standard potential form for 一段 verbs is ～られる. In actual spoken Japanese, however, the ら is frequently dropped, producing ～れる instead.

This phenomenon is called ら抜き言葉（らぬきことば）— "ら-dropping speech." It has been steadily increasing in usage for decades and is now the dominant form in casual spoken Japanese among younger speakers. Surveys by the Japanese government have shown that for many common verbs, the ら抜き form is used more frequently than the standard form in everyday conversation.

Despite its prevalence in speech, ら抜き is still considered non-standard in formal writing, news broadcasts, and official documents. You will encounter both forms regularly.

From a comprehension standpoint, you need to recognize both. When you hear 食べれる, understand that it means exactly the same thing as 食べられる — the ability to eat. There is no meaning difference whatsoever.

There is actually a practical advantage to ら抜き: it disambiguates the potential from the passive. As you will learn in Chapter 3, the passive form of 一段 verbs is also ～られる. When a speaker says 食べれる (ら抜き potential), there is no confusion — it can only mean "can eat." When a speaker says 食べられる, context must determine whether the meaning is "can eat" (potential) or "is eaten" (passive). The ら抜き form eliminates this ambiguity, which may be one reason it continues to spread.

あした　来れる？（ら抜き） "Can you come tomorrow?"

この　アプリで　えいがが　見れる。（ら抜き） "You can watch movies with this app."

1.5 ことができる — Alternative Potential Construction

Japanese has a second way to express ability: the dictionary form of a verb followed by ことができる. This construction is more formal and more explicit than the potential form.

Formation: 辞書形 ＋ ことができる

日本語を　話す　ことが　できる。 "I can speak Japanese."

この　みせで　カードで　はらう　ことが　できる。 "You can pay by card at this shop."

ここで　しゃしんを　とる　ことが　できます。 "You can take photos here." (polite)

Note that with ことができる, the original particle を is retained — there is no particle shift to が for the verb's object, because the verb remains in dictionary form. The が in ことができる marks こと as the subject of できる.

ことができる tends to appear in more formal or written contexts: signs, announcements, written instructions, and polite speech. In casual conversation, the potential form (話せる, 食べられる) is far more natural.

There is no meaning difference between the two constructions. 日本語が話せる and 日本語を話すことができる convey exactly the same information. The choice is a matter of register and formality.

The negative is formed by negating できる: ことができない.

ここでは　タバコを　すう　ことが　できません。 "You cannot smoke here." (polite)

1.6 見える/聞こえる vs 見られる/聞ける

Japanese makes a distinction that English usually does not: the difference between spontaneous perception (something naturally enters your awareness) and deliberate ability (you have the capacity to perceive something).

見える（みえる）— "Is visible / Can be seen" (spontaneous)

見える describes something entering your field of vision naturally, without effort. You do not choose to see it — it simply appears.

まどから　ふじさんが　見える。 "Mt. Fuji is visible from the window." / "You can see Mt. Fuji from the window."

字が　小さくて　見えない。 "The characters are so small I can't see them."

見られる（みられる）— "Can watch / Can look at" (ability)

見られる describes the ability or opportunity to deliberately watch or view something.

この　サイトで　むりょうで　えいがが　見られる。 "You can watch movies for free on this site."

びじゅつかんで　ピカソの　えが　見られる。 "You can see Picasso's paintings at the art museum."

聞こえる（きこえる）— "Is audible / Can be heard" (spontaneous)

聞こえる describes a sound reaching your ears naturally.

となりの　へやから　おんがくが　聞こえる。 "I can hear music from the next room."

声が　小さくて　聞こえない。（こえ） "Your voice is so quiet I can't hear it."

聞ける（きける）— "Can listen / Can ask" (ability)

聞ける describes the ability to deliberately listen to something or to ask someone something.

この　アプリで　日本の　ラジオが　聞ける。 "You can listen to Japanese radio on this app."

この　アプリで　日本の　ポッドキャストが　聞ける。 "You can listen to Japanese podcasts on this app."

The distinction is important because using the wrong form produces unnatural Japanese. You would not say まどから ふじさんが 見られる to describe a mountain simply being visible. And you would not say えいがが 見える to describe the ability to watch a film — films do not spontaneously appear in your visual field. The spontaneous forms (見える, 聞こえる) are inherently intransitive — they describe a state, not an action.

Both 見える and 聞こえる are 一段 verbs and conjugate accordingly.

1.7 Reading Passage

わたしは　田中ゆきと　言います。今　大学で　日本語を　べんきょうしています。

日本語の　べんきょうを　はじめてから　二年に　なりました。今は　かんたんな　しんぶんの　きじが　読めます。ニュースも　ゆっくり　話してもらえれば、だいたい　わかります。でも、まだ　日本の　ドラマは　ぜんぶ　聞き取る　ことが　できません。話すのが　はやくて、聞こえても　意味が　わからない　ことが　あります。

来年の　なつ、日本に　りょこうに　行きたいと　思っています。ともだちの　さとうさんは　日本語が　じょうずで、一人で　りょこうできます。わたしも　一人で　電車の　きっぷが　買えるように　なりたいです。レストランで　日本語で　ちゅうもんが　できるように　なりたいです。

今は　まだ　かんじが　あまり　読めません。百ぐらい　わかりますが、えきの　かんばんは　むずかしいです。でも、ひらがなが　ある　ところは　だいじょうぶです。日本に　行ったら、毎日　日本語を　つかう　ことが　できるから、もっと　上手に　なれると　思います。

Translation:

I am Tanaka Yuki. I am currently studying Japanese at university.

It has been two years since I started studying Japanese. Now I can read simple newspaper articles. If the news is spoken slowly for me, I can mostly understand it. But I still cannot catch everything in Japanese dramas. Even when I can hear the words, there are times when I do not understand the meaning because they speak so fast.

I am thinking of traveling to Japan next summer. My friend Satou is good at Japanese and can travel alone. I also want to become able to buy train tickets by myself. I want to become able to order in Japanese at restaurants.

Right now I still cannot read very many kanji. I know about a hundred, but the signs at stations are difficult. But places that have hiragana are fine. I think that if I go to Japan, I will be able to use Japanese every day, so I will get better.

Reading Passage 2 — 日本語が　できるように　なった

Read the following passage about a foreign exchange student reflecting on their progress in Japanese.

わたしは　マークです。アメリカから　来ました。日本に　来てから　もう　一年です。

一年前は、日本語が　ほとんど　話せませんでした。レストランで　ちゅうもんする　ことも　できませんでした。メニューの　かんじが　読めなくて、いつも　写真を　指さしていました。友達の　話も　はやくて　聞き取れませんでした。

今は　だいぶ　変わりました。かんたんな　かいわなら　できます。スーパーで　店員さんに　聞かれた　ことが　わかります。漢字も　三百ぐらい　読めるように　なりました。電車の　アナウンスも　だいたい　聞き取れます。

でも、まだ　できない　ことも　あります。ニュースは　はやくて　ぜんぶ　聞き取る　ことが　できません。電話で　日本語を　話すのは　とくに　むずかしいです。あいての　かおが　見えないと、わからない　ことが　多いです。

来年は　日本の　会社で　はたらきたいです。けいごが　使えるように　なれば、しゅうしょくの　めんせつも　できると　思います。もっと　がんばります。

Translation

I am Mark. I came from America. It has been one year since I came to Japan.

One year ago, I could hardly speak Japanese at all. I could not even order at a restaurant. I could not read the kanji on the menu and was always pointing at the photos. My friends also spoke too fast for me to catch.

Now things have changed quite a bit. If it is simple conversation, I can manage. I can understand what the clerk at the supermarket asks me. I have become able to read about three hundred kanji. I can mostly catch train announcements too.

But there are still things I cannot do. The news is too fast and I cannot catch everything. Speaking Japanese on the phone is especially difficult. When I cannot see the other person's face, there is much I do not understand.

Next year, I want to work at a Japanese company. I think that if I become able to use keigo, I can handle job interviews too. I will work harder.

Notes on the passage

ほとんど〜ませんでした — "could hardly..." — ほとんど with a negative means "almost not at all."

指さす（ゆびさす）— "to point at." A common compound verb.

だいぶ — "quite a bit, considerably." An adverb expressing noticeable degree of change.

あいて（相手）— "the other person, the person you are speaking with."

けいご（敬語）— "polite/formal language." You will learn this in Stage 2 Chapters 15–18.

しゅうしょくの　めんせつ（就職の面接）— "job interview." しゅうしょく means finding employment; めんせつ means interview.

1.8 Vocabulary List