Questions tagged [potential-form]
可能形. The conjugated form that allows the verb to express ability.
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What’s the difference between “書けるか” and “書けますか“?
What’s the difference between “書けるか“ and “書けますか” (Can you write?). I read the rule for the potential form, but then in an example it said ます on the end instead of る. So do both work and what’s the ...
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「から」 and the potential form in 「～ことから～言える」
The entire sentence was:
この種の文は、次に示すように、いくつかの属性を並立させて記述することができることからも記述文であると言える。
「～ことからも～言える」 here means something like "judging from this fact, it can be said that..." or "based on this fact, it ...
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Potential verbs with and without ようになる
According to http://www.guidetojapanese.org/surunaru.html:
Since potential verbs describe a state of feasibility rather than an
action [...] it is [sic] often used in conjunction with 「～ようになる」 to ...
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Can someone explain to me how “としまして” is formed?
Could someone help me by explaining how this is formed?
The question here refers to an answer to my question (second comment on answer), but I don't understand it:
Could someone help with the ...
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1answer
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Potential forms of verbs that have gained a spontaneous meaning (e.g., 泣ける)
English
I was thinking about the word 泣ける and how it has a usage where it's not really a potential — in particular its usage where it gets used to mean something was moving and caused the speaker to ...
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1answer
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Distinguish between homonyms & potential form
How can you distinguish two verbs when the dictionary form of one is exactly the same as the "potential" form of another. E.g:
開く [Godan verb with ku ending, intransitive verb] (Potential form: 開ける)...
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326 views
Meaning of もてり and use of が
白き布 もて盤上を 磨きたり 人は心に 鏡をもてり。
Is もてり 持てる？ If so, in that case why does a potential verb have the が particle?
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Difference between using ていない/ている and just ない/る when used with potential (られる) form
I was surfing online for Japanese articles and chanced upon this sentence:
初めて飛行機に乗ったうちの子どもは静かに座っていられませんでした
which translates to:
my child who sat on a plane for the first time, couldn't sit quietly.
...
3
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1answer
110 views
誰も + potential verb form
I'm pretty sure "誰にも読めない本" is correct. However, I have also heard something in the same vein as "誰も読めない本", without the に. Is this also correct?
If so, does も replace が here?
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が in the expression “耳が聞こえない”
I tried to translate this phrase literally and came up with "(My) ears can't hear". Since the expression means "(I'm) deaf", this makes sense.
However, I can't really get it to work grammatically, ...
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Combination of causative-passive and intransive verb with a direct object?
I am struggling to understand this sentence’s structure:
宿題を時間内に終わらせられなかった。
I think I get the idea of causative-passive as in “I was being made to finish the homework”. However, I noticed that we ...
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1answer
110 views
Why can には here ONLY mean にとっては?
日本人には________かもしれないが、私たち外国人にとっては、_________はとても大変なことです。
So I answered the first blank with 漢字が簡単に書ける and the second one with 漢字を書くの.
My Japanese teacher, who is a native, told me that it should be ...
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Why is this sentence using が here? [duplicate]
娘が一人で服が着られるようになった。
着る is supposed to take を but it's using が here. Why?
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1answer
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Why is there を coupled with potential form?
For full context:
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/web_tokushu/2018_1130.html?utm_int=news_contents_tokushu_002
The sentence in question:
その後、適切なケアを受けられないと、「次の子どもを愛せない」など深刻なケースにつながることが分かってきました。
My ...
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1answer
151 views
ていい after potential form
I was listening to the song 命に嫌われている and came across the following lyrics:
寂しいなんて言葉でこの傷が表せていいものか
そんな意地ばかり抱え今日も一人ベッドに眠る
I don’t understand what ていい is doing here. An attempt at a direct ...
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1answer
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is 持てる potential form or continuous tense
I am learning japanese grammar via Tae Kim (http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar). I read that to change a u-verb to potential form, replace the -u ending with a -e ending and add -ru. For ...
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Two questions about “can”
If 食べれる means "can eat", 食べれます means the same but polite, and 食べれません means "can not eat" but in its polite form, how do I say "can not eat" in the nonpolite form?
Another little question: how can I ...
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Why would you use 見えます instead of 見ます?
In the song イドラサーカス sung by 鏡音{かがみね}リン, there is the line, 「青{あお}い空{そら}が汚{よご}れて見{み}えますか？」I translated it using て as the present continuous. "Can you see the blue sky becoming dirty?"
Is my translation ...
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1answer
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Is there a good etymological reason why the potential form in Japanese requires the が particle?
Is there a good etymological reason why the potential form in Japanese requires the が particle?
When dealing with the -たい suffix, which also requires the -が particle for what in other languages would ...
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1answer
111 views
Is there a reason why the passive and the potential form are identical (at least for える/いる verbs)?
Is there a reason why the passive and the potential form in Japanese are identical (at least for える/いる verbs)? I mean, does one etymologically derive from the other? Or were they perhaps modelled on a ...
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1answer
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人間は普通ここに来れんのになあ I Know it means Humans Cannot Come here usually
人間は普通ここに来れんのになあ I Know it means Humans Cannot Come here usually.
but doesn't 来られます Means can come Potential Form But 来れ Then ん Confuses me.
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生徒が分かる and 彼が見える and Intransitivity
I have been searching all internet and haven't found an "acceptable" answer for it yet. I hope you guys can help me!
I was reading a text in the website KawaJapa about 分かる and the sentence 日本語が分かる. ...
4
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2answers
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How to use 満足する
A statement by North Korea:
話し合いの結果、韓国と意見が合って満足できた。
The result of the discussions was that we agree with the views of South Korea and are satisfied.
I understand 満足する to mean 'to be satisfied', ...
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1answer
454 views
「たら〜のに」Grammar help!
I've looked up the 「たら〜のに」grammar, and the site says it means "would have/could have" but I'm having trouble with the potential verb 食える. I know it means "can eat" but I don't know the English ...
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1answer
106 views
Potential verb + でも: meaning?
The sentence is:
あの 狐ねばばあに 餌付けでも されたか？
餌付け - is a potential form of the verb.
What role is でも playing here?
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1answer
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A question about the particle used with potential form
As I know, when the potential form of a verb is being used, direct object particle "を" should not be used. Instead, が or は should be used. So when should we use which? For example,
富⼠⼭が 登れた
climb ...
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1answer
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How can I conjugate a past-potential verb?
The conjugation rules for present-potential and past verb forms are well-documented online, but there doesn't seem to be as much information about past-potential conjugations.
If we can conjugate the ...
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3answers
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What is the difference between できる and 能う?
能う is translated as being able to do something or having capability to do something. How is its meaning and usage different from できる and potential form of a verb?
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1answer
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What is this 連用形+ゆる grammar? How is it different from the potential form?
I have come across this grammar a lot lately:
連用形+ゆる
For example, in this comment,
文語と現代語を交じたる文はインターネットで見ゆるなあ
I've also heard しゆる. Judging from the context I think that this grammar is similar ...
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1answer
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Potential following の that follows a noun
顔の見えない誰かに...
I wonder how this is translated as '(to) someone that cannot see their faces'.
I thought at first that 見えない誰か, as a modified noun, is connected to 顔 with の to mean 'someone that cannot ...
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2answers
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Parsing potential phrase modifying a noun
From Hirameki Hatsume-chan Vol 1, chapter 71
How does the sentence in the third panel translate, and who is doing what to whom? Is it a potential and the どうぐ is "enabling" him to have good dreams or ...
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What 生きていけたら means here?
So I was listening to this song and practing a bit while doing so. When trying to translate this line the results I got so far were:
そう信じてこれから生きていけたらどれだけ素敵なんだろう
So believe me/it, from now on .....
3
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1answer
179 views
function of 一度 in the following sentence
In the sentence: 一度にケーキを全部は、とても食べられない。
I am confused about the function and placement of 「一度」.
Also, the object is the 'cake' because of the particle を, but why is it followed by 全部 as the subject?
...
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1answer
180 views
“Can do” Form grammar?
Watashi wa hon o yomeru hayai dekiru. = I can read books quickly.
I know that you can either conjugate the verb to be -eru or -rareru, or you could leave the verb in the plain form and add "koto ga ...
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1answer
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How do these negations differ? (Plain negative vs. potential negative)
本当よ響ちゃん。私たちは帰らなかったんじゃなくて帰れなかったの
響 - Hibiki (name of a character)
So the storie goes like Hibiki goes in search of her friends who haven't come back in 2 weeks. When she founds them she asks them "...
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2answers
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Is Mierareru the potential form of Mieru?
The verb mieru appears to be able to conjugate to mierareru (potential form).
If it is so, what is the meaning of mierareru and how is it different from mieru?
To my knowledge mieru = "can see". So ...
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1answer
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In the phrase 「褒められたものではない」, why is 「褒められた」 in past tense (as opposed to present tense 「褒められる」)? [duplicate]
For reference, there's an entry in 実用日本語表現辞典: 褒められたものではない
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what form 死ねたのに is?
I've come across this phrase
今の一撃を素直に食らっておけば、楽に死ねたのにね
and I think it translates to something like: "if you had taken that attack obediently, you would have died in peace", but I can't really ...
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Use of いける in this sentence
戦術{せんじゅつ}と戦闘{せんとう}どっちもいける奴{やつ}には勝{か}てない。
The translation of this seems to be
(He) will not win against someone who can do both strategy and fighting
However this is the first I've seen いける used ...
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1answer
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How to denote the object and the subject of potential form verbs clearly?
The source in where I studied told me that you mark the object of potential form with が particle instead of を particle because potential form is just a state, no actual action is taken. It ...
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2answers
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Can you add です after a plain form of a verb?
In the lyric of イノコリ先生, there is a phrase that surprised me. It goes like : 手を上げられないです。does this mean です can come after verb? such as 来られるです. What if the verb is polite? Should you add です or not? ...
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What's the difference between 勝つ可能性 and 勝てる可能性？
In English I think there is a subtle difference between "there's a possibility we'll win" and "there's a possibility we can win". I think the former implies "if things keep going as they are now, we ...
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1answer
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What is the difference between 見る and 見える?
I've been coming across this weird verb conjugation that seems to happen in some verbs, where you replace る with える, e.g. 見る → 見える。
Is this a different verb form, how does it change the meaning of ...
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2answers
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What does いられるかっ mean in this sentence?
水着で密着されて無反応でいられるかっ
I roughly translated to
"Having the swimsuit stuck so close, there's no way you don't have a reaction"
What does いられるかっ mean in this sentence? Any ideas?
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Potential form vs Intransitive Verbs
So I was looking at conjugations and I saw that the potential form of 切る【きる】 is 切れる【きれる】. However, 切れる【きれる】 is also an intransitive verb. There are others e.g.
休む【やすむ】＞休める【やすめる】
行く【いく】＞行ける【いける】
So, ...
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In this sentence, is changing “迎える” to “迎えられる” for a potential or honorific reason?
Here is part of a document that I am reading:
本日は、世界最高の大学のひとつで卒業式を迎えられる皆さんとご一緒できて、とても光栄です。
"everyone who is able to be attending" or
"everyone who is attending" as an honorific ?
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3answers
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Dictionary form (解ける) as potential form (解けられる)?
Suppose I wanted to say to someone, "Can you solve this question?" According to my Memrise app and some Google results, this is the model sentence:
(1) この問題が解けますか。
Since potential ("can") is ...
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1answer
644 views
What is N+できる grammar?
Consider the following two sentences.
A: 僕は左と右が区別できない。
B: 僕は左と右を区別することができない。
I often see B but just know A now.
How can A be possible? What kind of grammar is A?
The following sentence (from ...
asked Apr 21 '16 at 15:24
Money Oriented Programmer
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2
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2answers
676 views
What is potential form?
I am in my fourth online Japanese class at UMUC Asia and we just started learning about potential form of verbs. I was wondering if there is an easy way to explain what it is? My teacher's explanation ...
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0answers
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Difference between potential form and ことができる [duplicate]
What is the difference between the potential form and using ことができる？ Are they interchangeable? For example:
日本語が話せます。
vs
日本語が話すことができます。
