得る details
understand + can happen
wakari uru
can happen; is conceivably possible
meaning: can understand
その仮説は理論上、起こりうる。
sono kasetsu wa rironjou, okori uru.
In theory, that hypothesis can occur. neutral
「部長が来月で辞めるって？そんなのありえないでしょ。」
buchou ga raigetsu de yameru tte? sonna no arienai desho.
Wait, the department head is quitting next month? No way. casual
- literary
- literary
- negative
- past
- polite
Examples
can happen; is conceivably possible — a theoretical or logical possibility, judged from written/formal register rather than personal ability
その仮説は理論上、起こりうる。
sono kasetsu wa rironjou, okoriuru.
In theory, that hypothesis can occur. neutral
「部長が来月で辞めるって？そんなのありえないでしょ。」
buchou ga raigetsu de yameru tte? sonna no arienai desho.
Wait, the department head is quitting next month? No way. casual
サーバーの負荷が高まれば、同様の障害が再発しうる。
saabaa no fuka ga takamareba, douyou no shougai ga saihatsushiuru.
If server load increases, a similar failure can recur. neutral
Formation
{V-masu-stem}うるattaches to ます-stem
Variant notes
- 得ず — the classical negative on the same える stem as 得ない — 判断し得ず, published/written register only, never spoken
- 得ぬ — interchangeable with 得ず in older or formal written text (言い得ぬ魅力 "an indescribable charm")
Notes
Related patterns
Similar
得る is a written, register-formal possibility judgment restricted to a narrow set of situational verbs (起こる、あり得る、考えられる); られる is the spoken default and the only one of the two that covers personal ability (泳げる), which 得る never states.
Both name a possibility on a masu-stem, but 得る is neutral about whether the outcome is good or bad, while かねない frames the possibility as specifically unwelcome — 起こり得る is a bare fact, 起こりかねない is a warning.
Opposite
- っこないdenies-vs-affirms-possibility
The same possibility question, answered oppositely — 起こり得る affirms that a possibility exists at all, 起こりっこない flatly denies any chance of it.