Potential Form

Vocabulary

食(た)べるた・べるru-verbto eat

行(い)くい・くu-verbto go

遊(あそ)ぶあそ・ぶu-verbto play

するirregularto do

来(く)るく・るirregularto come

話(はな)すはな・すu-verbto speak

日本語(にほんご)に・ほん・ごJapanese language

読(よ)むよ・むu-verbto read

泳(およ)ぐおよ・ぐu-verbto swim

見(み)るみ・るru-verbto see

The potential form expresses the ability to do something (“can do”).

Drop る and add られる.

食(た)べる→食(た)べられる

—can eat

見(み)る→見(み)られる

—can see

Change the last vowel う to え and add る.

行(い)く→行(い)ける

—can go

遊(あそ)ぶ→遊(あそ)べる

—can play

話(はな)す→話(はな)せる

—can speak

する→できる

—can do

来(く)る→来(きた)られる

—can come

In the potential form, the object particle を is often replaced by が.

日本語(にほんご)が話(はな)せる。I can speak Japanese.

漢字(かんじ)が読(よ)める。I can read kanji.

ここから富士山(ふじさん)が見(み)える。You can see Mt. Fuji from here.

In casual speech, ら is often dropped from Ru-verbs.

食(た)べられる→食(た)べれる

見(み)られる→見(み)れる

Note: This is very common in everyday speech but considered grammatically incorrect in formal contexts.