可能動詞

Etymology
Compound of.

Noun

 * 1)  a potential verb indicates that something is possible

Usage notes
In modern Japanese, the potential form of verbs formed by extending the  verb stem that ends in -e-, forming a verb with the  pattern.

Examples: →,  →

Although potential in English is a quality of the agent (the person or thing doing the action of the verb), some of these verbs like the ones listed above in Japanese express a quality of the patient (the person or thing to which the action of the verb happens), and thus the grammar is different from what an English speaker might expect.

For instance:
 * I can read this book.
 * The potential verb phrase here describes a quality of "I".


 * While the Japanese is translatable as the same thing as the English above, notice that the subject of this sentence -- marked by the particle -- is the book, the patient of the verb.  A more literal translation would be, This book is readable by me.  In fact, the actor of potential verbs in Japanese can be marked by the  particle or a topic marker used to mark the agent: .  This use of  is similar to passive verb constructions.
 * While the Japanese is translatable as the same thing as the English above, notice that the subject of this sentence -- marked by the particle -- is the book, the patient of the verb.  A more literal translation would be, This book is readable by me.  In fact, the actor of potential verbs in Japanese can be marked by the  particle or a topic marker used to mark the agent: .  This use of  is similar to passive verb constructions.

The -eru ending for potential is not to be confused with the -eru ending that is instead the of the Classical Japanese stative suffix.