In this guide
- Introduction
- Turn an action into “can do”
- Make it polite, or say you can’t
- Make a sentence about your ability
- A skill, or something that works today?
- Talk about what you could do before
- When “can I?” asks permission
- Reading 食べられる: “can eat” or “be eaten”?
- Use it for your own “can” or “can’t”
- About the author
“I can read hiragana” is a useful thing to be able to tell someone when you’re learning Japanese. It tells them what you can manage, even if a menu full of kanji still means asking for help. I like how specific that is: you can describe one thing you’ve learned without having to sum up everything you know.
The Japanese potential form is the verb form that gives you this “can do” meaning. With 読む, “read,” a change to the ending gives you 読める, “can read.”
読む → 読める
read → can read
That change is useful for more than learned skills. It can also express what your situation allows, such as being able to visit on Saturday. We’ll build the forms first, then put them into sentences so you can say what you can and can’t do in your own life.
Turn an action into “can do”
Start with the dictionary form—the basic word you look up, such as 読む or 食べる. Its verb group tells you how to change it. We’ll use known groups for the first examples so you can try each operation.
Group 1: change the last kana to its e sound
読む (read) is a Group 1 verb, called godan in a dictionary. Change its final kana from the u sound to the matching e sound, then add る. Here, む becomes め: 読む → 読め → 読める. Keep the rest of the word.
| Dictionary ending | Potential ending |
|---|---|
| う | える |
| く | ける |
| ぐ | げる |
| す | せる |
| つ | てる |
| ぬ | ねる |
| ぶ | べる |
| む | める |
| る | れる |
For 書く (write), く becomes け, giving 書ける, “can write.” The rule also works for a Group 1 verb ending in る: 帰る (return) → 帰れる (can return). Use that last row when you know the verb is Group 1.
Build a Group 1 potential
A dictionary labels 切る (cut) as Group 1 / godan. Type its potential form, in kanji or hiragana.
切る → ＿
Group 2: remove る and add られる
食べる (eat) is Group 2, called ichidan in a dictionary. Remove its final る and add られる. You keep 食べ and attach the new ending: 食べる → 食べられる, “can eat.”
食べる → 食べられる
eat → can eat
Build a Group 2 potential
見る (to see/watch) is Group 2 / ichidan. Type its full dictionary-form potential, in kanji or hiragana.
見る → ＿
The two irregulars: する and 来る
Learn these two as whole pairs: する (do) → できる (can do), and 来る (come) → 来られる (can come). With 来る, keep the pronunciation change too: くる → こられる.
The する change also works in an ordinary noun-plus-する action. 勉強する means “study.” Keep 勉強 and replace する with できる: 勉強できる, “can study.”
Keep the two irregulars together
Choose the pair with both full potential forms correct.
する / 来る
Which route does a new verb take?
For an unfamiliar verb, check the dictionary’s group label: godan means Group 1, and ichidan means Group 2. I learn that label alongside the meaning, so the next change is a choice I can make rather than a guess.
A final る can belong to either group. We’ve used 帰る → 帰れる for Group 1 and 食べる → 食べられる for Group 2. So when a new word ends in る, look up its group. Apart from the irregulars する and 来る, verbs that don’t end in る are Group 1.
Make it polite, or say you can’t
Use the potential you’ve just built as your starting point. Every potential above ends in る. Remove that final る and attach the ending you need. This next step works the same way for all three groups. A form without a polite ending is called plain.
| What you want to say | Ending to attach | Example from 読める |
|---|---|---|
| can read (polite) | ます | 読めます |
| can’t read (plain) | ない | 読めない |
| can’t read (polite) | ません | 読めません |
For example, to say “can’t eat” politely, start with 食べられる. Remove its final る and attach ません: 食べられません.
Build “can” before adding “not.” 読まない says “don’t read” or “won’t read”; 読めない says “can’t read.” I keep that pair in mind when checking a negative sentence. That one vowel changes the claim.
Say you can’t write it
You can’t write kanji. Use the polite negative potential of 書く (write). Type only the missing verb, in kanji or hiragana.
漢字が＿。
Make a sentence about your ability
To name what you can read, put that thing before が and follow it with the potential verb. You can also name the person as the topic. In this sentence, 私は sets “I” as the topic, and ひらがなが names what I can read.
私はひらがなが読めます。
I can read hiragana.
The same pattern works for speaking a language. 話す (speak) is Group 1: す becomes せ, so 話す → 話せる → 話せます. 日本語が話せます means “I can speak Japanese.”
For your own straightforward ability sentence, が is a useful starting choice. You’ll also hear 日本語を話せます. Both が and を are natural in this speaking-ability sentence, so you can recognize either version when you meet it.
Choose every natural sentence
You want to say “I can speak Japanese.” Select every natural sentence below.
Which sentences can describe that ability?
A journey needs different details. Use に or へ for a destination, and で for a place or means. 行く (go) is Group 1, so 行く → 行ける → 行けます.
明日は電車で学校に行けます。
Tomorrow, I can get to school by train.
電車で gives the means of travel, and 学校に gives the destination. Those particles keep their jobs. 行けます tells us the journey is possible.
A skill, or something that works today?
日本語が話せます can describe a skill you’ve learned. Now imagine checking your calendar to arrange a visit. 来られる becomes 来られます with the polite ます ending, and you can say:
土曜日は来られます。
I can come on Saturday.
Here the useful information is that Saturday works for you. The same potential form covers availability as well as skill. If work keeps you busy today, 今日は行けません means “I can’t go today.” The situation explains what makes going difficult; the verb supplies the “can’t.”
Talk about what you could do before
You can use these potential verbs for the past too. Start with the potential form and remove its final る. For the plain past, attach た; for the plain past negative, attach なかった. 読める gives 読めた, “could read,” or 読めなかった, “couldn’t read.”
For polite past speech, attach ました or ませんでした to that same piece, 読め. Here are the four choices together:
| Past meaning | Attach after removing る | From 読める |
|---|---|---|
| could read (plain) | た | 読めた |
| couldn’t read (plain) | なかった | 読めなかった |
| could read (polite) | ました | 読めました |
| couldn’t read (polite) | ませんでした | 読めませんでした |
“Could read” can describe an old skill or an occasion when reading was possible. Whether someone actually read something depends on the situation, as well as the verb form.
A past possibility
Say that you couldn’t run yesterday. 走る (run) is Group 1 / godan. Use the plain past negative potential. Type only the missing verb, in kanji or hiragana.
昨日は＿。
When “can I?” asks permission
If you want permission to do something, a useful explicit question is a verb’s te-form plus もいいですか: “May I…?” The te-form is a separate construction. For taking photos, you can learn this whole question now:
写真を撮ってもいいですか。
May I take photos?
撮って is the te-form of 撮る (take a photo), and もいいですか asks whether doing it is all right. This gives you a ready-to-use question without learning every te-form rule here. If you’d like to ask permission for another action, the te-form guide shows how to make the form you need.
You could also hear 写真が撮れますか, “Can I take photos?” 撮る is Group 1, so 撮る → 撮れる → 撮れます. That question concerns possibility and may include whether photos are allowed. In a museum the meanings can overlap; the てもいいですか question makes permission explicit.
Ask permission explicitly
You’re in a museum and want permission to take photos. Choose the question using the explicit permission pattern just introduced.
Which question uses te-form + もいいですか?
Reading 食べられる: “can eat” or “be eaten”?
For Group 2 verbs, the full potential and passive can look identical. 食べられる can mean “can eat” or “be eaten.” A passive sentence tells us what happens to someone or something because of an action.
For a past example, 食べられる becomes 食べられました with the polite ending ました. Suppose you’re describing what food was available for lunch yesterday:
昨日はパンが食べられました。
I could eat bread yesterday.
You are the person who could eat, and bread is what you could eat. Now compare a report about the bread you’d saved:
私のパンは弟に食べられました。
My bread was eaten by my younger brother.
私のパン is what was eaten, and 弟に names the eater. Both sentences use 食べられました: the first says what I could do, and the second says what happened to my bread.
I read the noun-and-particle phrases together here. 学校に earlier gave a destination; 弟に here tells us who ate the bread. That keeps the meaning attached to the whole little phrase.
With Group 1, the potential and passive usually look different: 読める is “can read,” and 読まれる is “be read.” 食べられる needs the sentence around it because the two forms match. The causative and passive guide shows how to build the passive and identify who acts and who is affected.
Follow the action
The speaker is reporting what happened to the rice ball they had saved.
私のおにぎりは兄に食べられました。
Use it for your own “can” or “can’t”
Return to the action you want to describe. Check its group, build the potential, then choose the ending for your meaning and level of politeness. Try that sequence in a new situation:
Combine the choices
This room is closed today. Say that you can’t enter it. 入る (enter) is Group 1 / godan. Use its polite negative potential; type only the missing verb, in kanji or hiragana.
今日はこの部屋に＿。
What can you do—and what can’t you do?
Write one true sentence about a skill, something your schedule allows, or a current limitation. You can use a verb from this guide or check a new verb’s group in a dictionary. Add a time or situation if it helps explain your meaning.
Copy your Japanese text, then paste it into the checker. This writing space does not assess or save your text.
The checker’s grammar tool offers general grammar and spelling suggestions; it doesn’t grade this task or confirm your intended meaning.
About the author
B. Rungswell
B. Rungswell is the editor of the Bunpo Check blog and a native English speaker who has passed JLPT N1. Drawing on many years of life in Japan and experience working at Japanese companies, Rungswell writes practical guides to Japanese grammar for English-speaking learners.