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I didn't see any other threads addressing this.

I'm learning 得る as an auxiliary verb to express possibility, as in 起こり得る (起こりえる). From what I've read, 得る is typically read as うる if it follows the 連用形 of a verb ending in え, as in 考え得る (考えうる).

I understand 得る (える) conjugates as an ichidan verb, but I can't figure out how it conjugates or even how it's read in various other conjugations, like 未然形.

I found some examples of 考え得ない online, but I can't tell what the reading is. Is this supposed to be 考えうない (seems unlikely)? Or does it revert back to える if you're negating it, as in 考ええない?

Is there ever a case where it's conjugated 考えうらない? 考えうらなかった?

Jisho literally says "Verb unspecified" for 得る(うる)

Thanks.

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In 未然形/連用形, うる conjugates like える.

  • ありえない
  • ありうる
  • ありえた
  • ありえても

Technically, うる conjugates somewhat like a regular 二段動詞 in classical Japanese (thus うる sounds more stilted than える). But since the 未然形/連用形 of うる and える cannot be distinguished, as a modern Japanese speaker, we may think うる is special and appears only in 終止形/連体形.

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  • Thanks. So if うる is only used in 終止形/連体形, does that mean 考え得ない is pronounced 考ええない?
    – charlemagne
    Mar 5 at 3:06
  • 2
    @charlemagne Yes.
    – naruto
    Mar 5 at 3:09

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