Possibility and difficulty

～得る

can; be possible to; may happen

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How to form it

  • Verb (ます-stem) + 得る (うる / える)
  • Verb (ます-stem) + 得ない (えない) = cannot

Register: Formal, written

Explanation

Says that something is possible, or that it is within the range of things that can happen.

Common in fixed phrases like あり得る (possible) and あり得ない (impossible), 考え得る, 起こり得る.

Examples

  1. それは十分あり得ることだ。

    それはじゅうぶんありうることだ。

    That is quite possible.

  2. 考え得る限りの対策を取った。

    かんがえうるかぎりのたいさくをとった。

    We took every measure we could think of.

  3. 事故は誰にでも起こり得る。

    じこはだれにでもおこりうる。

    An accident can happen to anyone.

Compare with

  • ～ようがない: ようがない is 'no way to'; 得る states possibility, 得ない states impossibility.

Common mistakes

  • Reading the negative as うない. It is えない (あり得ない).