ことができる

About

The potential form of する (できる) can be combined with a nominalized verb using the が particle. This forms the ～ことができる pattern, which is used to describe that a verb is possible.

E.g. 食たべる + こと + が + できる > 食たべることができる "able to eat"

ができる may also be combined directly with nouns when the associated verb can be inferred.

E.g. ギターができる "to be able to play guitar"

The difference between ～ことができる and potential form verbs is very subtle, but the following are generally true:

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  ～ことができる tends to be used in slightly more formal situations.

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  ～ことができる tends to describe the possibility of a given situation.

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  ～ことができる cannot replace a potential form verb when evaluating something.

Summary

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  We can use ～ことができる to nominalize and form a potential verb

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  ～ができる can directly follow a noun in some situations

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  ～ことができる and potential form verbs differ slightly