Special Potential Verbs
This page explains a few special potential verbs: 見える、聞こえる, わかる, and ある
見る and 聞く
見る and 聞く have two different potential forms:
- 見る: 見える and 見られる
- 聞く: 聞こえる and 聞ける
見える and 聞こえる are both used when you can see or hear something. They describe a physical possibility.
見られる and 聞ける are used when there is a possibility to see or hear something. They describe opportunity. When conditions (time, place, weather, etc.) become involved, みられる and 聞ける become more natural.
Additional (Japanese) reading.
Examples
- (私に)テレビが見えた – I could see the TV. (Visible)
- (私は)テレビが見られた – I was able to (watch) the TV. (Opportunity)
- いい話が聞こえた – I heard a good story. (eavesdropping)
- いい話が聞けた – I was able to hear a good story. (Opportunity)
- 先生に聞けた – I was able to ask the teacher. (Opportunity)
- 先生に聞こえた – The teacher heard (something). (Eavesdropping)
- 富士山が見えます – Mt. Fuji can be seen. (Visible)
- 富士山が見られます – Mt. Fuji may be seen. (Opportunity).
わかる
わかる has no potential form, because it is a state of understanding. This is also why it uses が and not を。
知る (to know), however, does have a potential form: 知れる (to be knowable).
ある
The potential form of ある is not あられる nor あれる. When you need to use the potential of ある you need to use a special verb ありえる or ありうる. Both pronunciations mean the same thing, though ありうる tends to only be used in the simple present tense.
- その話はありうる – That story is possible/conceivable
- それはありえない – That’s not possible
ありえない is also frequently used as an exclamation to an unbelievable story.