I came across 愛せない in an example sentence in 新英和大辞典第５版 (under the entry 失格).
自分の子供を愛せないなんて母親失格だと思う。 I don't think anyone who doesn't love her own child deserves the name of a mother.
What kind of conjugation is 愛せない?
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2Related: What are the valid potential forms of special "suru" verbs?– aguijonazoCommented Nov 28, 2022 at 13:50
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2This is also kind of related: Difference between 愛する and 愛す– aguijonazoCommented Nov 28, 2022 at 13:51
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Causative, negative. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_verb_conjugation– MeowzillaCommented Nov 28, 2022 at 14:48
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4@Meowzilla: That is not correct, nor does it make sense in the context of the example sentence.– istrasciCommented Nov 28, 2022 at 15:54
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2 Answers
It's the negative potential form of 愛す, which is a godan verb meaning "to love (someone)".
- 愛す (godan, transitive): "to love"
- 愛せる (potential form of 愛す): "can love"
- 愛せない (negative form of 愛せる): "cannot love"
- (Compare) 愛さない (negative form of 愛す): "does not love"
If you can read 泳げない, 笑えない, 待てない and so on, this is the same conjugation.
Note that 愛す(る) is a tricky verb that conjugates sometimes like a godan verb and sometimes like a suru-verb. See this chart, this discussion and this discussion. When a potential meaning is involved, 愛できる doesn't make sense, and you need to say 愛せる (or 愛することができる).
愛する (love) + せる (can) + ない (not)
