〜が できます
Using “can” — を turns into が
“Can” is a state, not an action — and states take が.
かんじが よめます
Every potential verb ends in える／られる, so all of them conjugate like たべる.
よめる → よめません
〜ことが できます says the same thing. This is just the short, natural way.
よむことが できます
にほんごが はなせますか。
はい、すこし はなせます。
を → が
You know how to build the form. Now watch what happens to the sentence around it: the moment よみます becomes よめます, the を becomes が. It's the same が you already met with すき and じょうず. 🔊 Tap to hear.
Want the が story again? → Unit 35 covers it →
Here's the one thing everybody gets wrong. The moment a verb becomes “can”, its object stops being を and becomes が. かんじを よみます → かんじが よめます. Why? Because “can” isn't really an action any more — it's a state, a description of you. And states take が (the same が you met with すき and じょうず in Unit 35). Only を changes. に・へ・で stay exactly as they were: うみに いきます → うみに いけます.
かつよう
Good news: you don't have to learn any new conjugation. Every potential verb ends in えます or られます, which makes all of them Group 2 verbs — they behave exactly like たべます. 🔊 Tap to hear.
A gift: every potential verb ends in 〜えます or 〜られます, so every single one behaves like たべます — a Group 2 verb. You already know how to conjugate it. よめます → よめません／よめました／（plain）よめる・よめない. It doesn't matter which group the original verb was in. Once it turns into “can”, it joins Group 2.
＝ 〜ことが できます
Here's a nice surprise. Back in Unit 21 you learned 〜ことが できます. It means exactly what the potential form means — the potential form is simply shorter, and it's the one people actually use in conversation. 🔊 Tap to hear.
Compare with the long form → Unit 21 →
Remember 〜ことが できます from Unit 21? It means exactly the same thing as the potential form — the potential form is just shorter, and it's what people actually say. かんじを よむことが できます ＝ かんじが よめます. Both are correct. The long one sounds a bit formal or emphatic; the short one is everyday Japanese. And look at Group 3: します → できます. It was the potential form all along.
クイズ
Six questions. Half of them are about that little が.
Question 1 / 6 · 0 correct