Japanese Language Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for students, teachers, and linguists wanting to discuss the finer points of the Japanese language. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
I was chatting with a Japanese friend about something I was planning to say to something and they said:
ほうほう、ということは今まで言えてなかったのね？
Why is imperative form used here?
I understand they are saying, "So that means that until know you hadn't said that".
Would the sentence be different if it was
ほうほう、ということは今まで言わなかったのね？
I asked them but it was difficult for me to understand why.
This is not the imperative form, it's the potential form.
The imperative of 言う is just 言え. The potential form is 言える, which turns into the 言えて for the 〜て form.
