What does 彼なら mean?

Question

彼ならそれくらいの事はいいかねない

Translation: He can say such things.

I don’t understand why this なら follows 彼. I’ve seen it more than once too.

Answer 1

「～～なら」, all by itself, means "if ~~ is the case", "if it were ~~", etc. 「[彼]{かれ}なら」, therefore, means "if it were him".

「Verb + かねない」 means "capable of (verb)ing", "not scruple to (verb)", etc. As usual, the verb needs to be put into its [連用形]{れんようけい} ("continuative form"). The 連用形 of 「[言]{い}う」 is「言い」.

「[彼]{かれ}ならそれくらいの[事]{こと}はいいかねない。」 =

"I would not put it past him to say something like that." or

"He would not scruple at saying something like that."

If you want (or are required) to do a more literal translation, you could use:

"If it were him, he would be capable of saying something like that (or 'as bad as that')"