Potential Form (〜られる/〜える): How to Say You 'Can' Do Something

What it means

The potential form expresses ability or possibility — "can do" or "be able to do." Instead of saying you do something, you say you are able to do it. Every verb has a potential version, and once it's formed, it behaves like a brand-new る-verb (an い-stem verb), so you conjugate the ending normally: 食べられる → 食べられない, 食べられました, and so on.

How to form it

Formation depends on the verb group:

For う-verbs, you move the final sound one row down the kana chart to the e-line: か→け, む→め, す→せ, ぐ→げ, ぶ→べ, う→え, つ→て, ぬ→ね, る→れ. Then add る. So 行く→行ける, 泳ぐ→泳げる, 待つ→待てる, 買う→買える.

The particle shift: を often becomes が

This is the part that surprises most learners. When a verb becomes potential, its direct object frequently switches from を to が, because you're no longer acting on the object — you're describing your ability regarding it.

You will hear を used too, especially in casual speech, and it isn't wrong — but が is the safer, more natural default for the test and for clean writing.

Irregular verbs: できる and 来られる

する → できる is so common it almost stops feeling irregular. Any noun + する verb uses it: 運転する → 運転できる ("can drive"), 勉強する → 勉強できる ("can study").

If you'd rather avoid memorizing all these endings, there's a more formal alternative you already know from N5: 〜ことができる, where you attach ことができる to the dictionary form (話すことができる = 話せる). It means the same thing but sounds a touch stiffer, and it's handy when a verb's potential ending feels awkward.

Casual speech: ら-抜き言葉 (dropping the ら)

In everyday spoken Japanese, many people drop the ら from the potential of る-verbs and 来る: 食べられる → 食べれる, 見られる → 見れる, 来られる → 来れる. This is called ら-抜き言葉 ("ら-dropped words").

It's extremely common in conversation, but it's still considered informal — avoid it in writing, formal speech, and the JLPT. Stick with the full 食べられる there.

Common mistakes

1. Mixing up the groups. 書く is a う-verb, so it's 書ける, not 書けられる. Only る-verbs (and 来る) take られる.
2. Forgetting the が shift. With potential, the object usually takes が: 日本語が話せる, not 日本語を話せる (を is acceptable casually, but が is the default).
3. Saying できられる. する's potential is just できる — never add られる to it.
4. Using ら-抜き on the test. 見れる and 食べれる are fine with friends but marked as informal; write 見られる, 食べられる for anything graded.

Quick recap

• Potential = "can / be able to." る-verbs → drop る + られる; う-verbs → u-sound to e-sound + る.
• Irregulars: する → できる, 来る → 来られる(こられる).
• The object often shifts from を to が: 日本語が話せる.
• The result acts like a る-verb: 話せる → 話せない, 話せました.
• Casual ら-抜き (食べれる) is common in speech but informal.

Your turn

Take the full N4 potential form drill →