〜られる/える

About

The potential form of a verb can be formed using the auxiliary verb られる, which indicates potential, or that something is possible.

For ichidan verbs, simply add られる to the stem form of a given verb:

It's also common to remove the ら from られる, especially in spoken Japanese. This is called the ら抜ぬき言葉ことば (ら-less word) version of the potential form.

For godan verbs, turn the final kana into its corresponding hiragana column /え/ sound, and add る.

する and 来る are exceptions:

Potential form verbs can be used to express abilities (including innate abilities) and possibilities.

E.g. 食たべる ("to eat") > 食たべられる ("to be able to eat/something is edible")

Summary

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  Make the potential form of an ichidan verb by removing the final る and adding られる

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  Make the potential form of a godan verb by changing the final /う/ kana to its /え/ equivalent and adding る

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  The two most basic uses of potential form verbs are ability (including the innate ability of something), and possibility