Using the Japanese Potential Form できる to Mean “Can”

The Candy Man Can: Using the Potential Form できる to Mean “Can” : Welcome back to the wonderful world of Japanese learning! Today, we’re going to learn all about できる (dekiru) and how to conjugate and use verbs in the potential form. The English equivalent of できる is “can (do something)” or “be able to (do something).” 

Let’s get at it!

Japanese Verb Review

Before we begin with the potential form, let’s review some common verbs. In Japanese, there are three kinds of verbs: u–verbs, ru–verbs, and irregular verbs.

U–verbs are verbs that end in “u” (as in “oo”) sounds. Here are some examples of u–verbs.

U-VERBS

Japanese	Romaji	English
洗う	arau	to wash
育つ	sodatsu	to grow
送る	okuru	to send
休む	yasumu	to rest
飛ぶ	tobu	to fly
書く	kaku	to write
泳ぐ	oyogu	to swim
消す	kesu	to turn off/erase

Ru-verbs are verbs that end with the hiragana character る (ru). However, keep in mind that sometimes verbs ending in る can be considered u–verbs (like 送る above). Here are a few examples of ru–verbs.

RU-VERBS

Japanese	Romaji	English
つける	tsukeru	to turn on (lights)
勤める	tsutomeru	to work for

And, lastly, these are the irregular verbs.

IRREGULAR VERBS

Japanese	Romaji	English
する	suru	to do
来る	kuru	to come

Now that we’ve gone over some common verbs, let’s create a few sentences!

彼はコカ・コーラ カンパニーに勤めています。
Kare wa Koka Koora Kanpanii ni tsutomete imasu.
He works for the Coca Cola Company.

この花は山で育つ。
Kono hana wa yama de sodatsu.
This flower grows in the mountains.

The Potential Form (Verb + ことができる)

こと (koto) literally means “thing” in English.

Adding こと to the end of a verb in its dictionary form turns it into a gerund (i.e. an -ing verb, which functions as a noun).  Take a look at the table below to see how this works.

Japanese	Romaji	English
洗う + こと = 洗うこと	arau + koto = arau koto	to wash + koto = washing
つける + こと = つけること	tsukeru + koto = tsukeru koto	to turn on + koto = turning on
書く + こと = 書くこと	kaku + koto = kaku koto	to write + koto = writing

Now that you know how to add こと to the end of verbs to make them gerunds, let’s add できる to form the potential form. できる literally means “can do” in English. The particle が (ga) connects こと to できる.

Japanese	Romaji	English
洗うこと + が + できる = 洗うことができる	arau koto + ga + dekiru =arau koto ga dekiru	washing + ga + can do  =can wash
つけること + が + できる = つけることができる	tsukeru koto + ga + dekiru =tsukeru koto ga dekiru	turning on + ga + can do = can turn on (lights)
書くこと + が + できる = 書くことができる	kaku koto + ga + dekiru =kaku koto ga dekiru	writing + ga + can do =can write

The Shortened Potential Form 

The only problem with adding ことができる to verbs is that, at times, the sentence can sound a bit wordy. Luckily, there is a shortened version of the potential form. Think of it like saying, “I am able to eat sushi,” versus, “I can eat sushi.” Both have the same meaning, except one sentence uses six words and the other uses four.

Conjugating verbs into the shortened potential form will depend on the type of verb you’re using. 

If it’s a u–verb, you change the final hiragana character of the dictionary form into a character with an “e” sound. After that, you attach る (ru) to the end. Take a look at the table below.

U-VERBS (POTENTIAL FORM)

Japanese	Romaji	English
洗う  ➝ 洗え  ➝ 洗える	arau  ➝ arae  ➝ araeru	to wash  ➝ can wash
育つ  ➝ 育て  ➝ 育てる	sodatsu  ➝ sodate  ➝ sodateru	to grow  ➝ can grow
送る  ➝ 送れ  ➝ 送れる	okuru  ➝ okure  ➝ okureru	to send  ➝ can send
休む  ➝ 休め  ➝ 休める	yasumu  ➝ yasume  ➝ yasumeru	to rest  ➝ can rest
飛ぶ  ➝ 飛べ  ➝ 飛べる	tobu  ➝ tobe  ➝ toberu	to fly  ➝ can fly
書く  ➝ 書け  ➝ 書ける	kaku  ➝ kake  ➝ kakeru	to write  ➝ can write
泳ぐ  ➝ 泳げ  ➝ 泳げる	oyogu  ➝ oyoge  ➝ oyogeru	to swim  ➝ can swim
消す  ➝ 消せ  ➝ 消せる	kesu  ➝ kese  ➝ keseru	to turn off/erase  ➝ can turn off/erase

With ru–verbs, you replace the final hiragana character る with られる (rareru).

RU-VERBS (POTENTIAL FORM)

Japanese	Romaji	English
つける  ➝ つけられる	tsukeru  ➝ tsukerareru	to turn on (lights)  ➝ can turn on (lights)
勤める  ➝ 勤められる	tsutomeru  ➝ tsutomerareru	to work for  ➝ can work for

And the irregular verbs are conjugated as follows.

IRREGULAR VERBS

Japanese	Romaji	English
する  ➝ できる	suru  ➝ dekiru	to do  ➝ can do
来る  ➝ 来られる	kuru  ➝ korareru	to come  ➝ can come

Now that you know how to conjugate verbs into both their longer and shorter potential forms, let’s create some sentences! Remember: the shorter and the longer version of the potential form have the same meaning; it’s just that one is just shorter than the other.

With the [verb + ことができる] version, the particle that marks the direct object is を (wo). With the shortened potential form the particle is が.

Example Sentences:

私は泳ぐことができる／泳げる。
Watashi wa oyogu koto ga dekiru  /  oyogeru.
I can swim.

７時までに来ることができますか／来られますか。
Shichi-ji made ni kuru koto ga dekimasu ka  /  koraremasu ka.
Can you come by seven o’clock?

あなたは漢字を書くことができますか／漢字が書けますか。
Anata wa kanji wo kaku koto ga dekimasu ka  /  kanji ga kakemasu ka.
Can you write kanji?

僕はあなたにDMを送ることができる／DMが送れる。
Boku wa anata ni DM wo okuru koto ga dekiru  /  DM ga okureru.
I can send you a direct message (DM).

私は泳ぐことができる／泳げる。
Watashi wa oyogu koto ga dekiru  /  oyogeru.
I can swim.

７時までに来ることができますか／来られますか。
Shichi-ji made ni kuru koto ga dekimasu ka  /  koraremasu ka.
Can you come by seven o’clock?

あなたは漢字を書くことができますか／漢字が書けますか。
Anata wa kanji wo kaku koto ga dekimasu ka  /  kanji ga kakemasu ka.
Can you write kanji?

僕はあなたにDMを送ることができる／DMが送れる。
Boku wa anata ni DM wo okuru koto ga dekiru  /  DM ga okureru.
I can send you a direct message (DM).

In Summary

The potential form is used to say that someone “is able to” or “can” do something. 

There are two versions of the potential form: the longer and the shorter version. The longer version uses the formula [dictionary form of verb + ことができる]. The shorter version is conjugated depending on the type of verb.

With u-verbs, you remove the hiragana character at the end of the dictionary form and replace it with a character ending in an “e” sound. After that, you add る.

With ru-verbs, you remove the final る character and replace it with られる.

With the irregular verbs, する becomes できる, and 来る becomes 来られる.

Don’t forget to get out there and practice what you’ve learned today! The potential form takes a bit of time to get used to, so start today! 

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