N4 · Unit 10
Lesson 38Ability, acquired ability, and maintained habits
Express current ability, a change in ability or state, and an effort to establish a habit.
What you learn
Express current ability, a change in ability or state, and an effort to establish a habit.
Learning points
- Potential forms
- Changes in ability or habit
- Maintained effort
Why this lesson comes now
This lesson connects what you can already say to a new way of expressing it. Hear the key sentences, understand the structure, then use it in a real situation.
Your next step
Listen to the key sentences, understand the pattern, finish the examples and vocabulary, then continue to the next lesson.
Open the interactive lessonCore pattern
動詞可能形 ・ 動詞基本形 / ない形 + ように ・ 動詞可能形 / 基本形 / ない形 + ように なります ・ 動詞基本形 / ない形 + ように しますBeginner explanation
Potential forms directly express ability, and the object often changes from を to が. 〜ように states a goal involving ability, a state, or another result not directly controlled by will. 〜ようになります describes a change in ability, state, or habit, while 〜ようにします／しています expresses deliberate effort or an ongoing habit. Standard potential forms of ichidan verbs keep ら, as in 食べられます.
Understand these sentences first
- 私は 日本語が 少し 話せます。watashi wa Nihongo ga sukoshi hanasemasu
I can speak a little Japanese.
- 忘れないように、予定を 書きました。wasurenai yō ni, yotei o kakimashita
I wrote down the plan so that I would not forget it.
- 毎日 練習して、漢字が 読めるように なりました。mainichi renshū shite, kanji ga yomeru yō ni narimashita
After practising every day, I became able to read kanji.
- 夜は コーヒーを 飲まないように しています。yoru wa kōhī o nomanai yō ni shite imasu
I make a habit of not drinking coffee at night.
Core vocabulary
- 話せますはなせますcan speak
- 読めますよめますcan read
- 着られますきられますcan wear
- できますできますcan do
- 練習れんしゅうpractice
- 習慣しゅうかんhabit
- 準備じゅんびpreparation
- いつでもいつでもanytime
Grammar, one point at a time
The potential form directly expresses ability or possibility
V-eる／Vられる／できる／来られるFor group-1 verbs, move the final sound to the e-row and add る. Group-2 verbs replace る with られる. する becomes できる and 来る becomes 来られる. Potential verbs then conjugate like group-2 verbs.
Examples
- この漢字が 読めます。I can read this kanji.
- 明日 10時に 来られますか。Can you come at ten tomorrow?
- ここで 予約できます。You can make a reservation here.
Potential clauses often mark the possible object with が
N が V-可能A beginner can change 日本語を話します to 日本語が話せます. Real Japanese also uses を with potential forms, especially when an intentionally controlled action is foregrounded. Learn the basic が pattern first, then recognise context-dependent variation.
Examples
- 英語が 話せます。I can speak English.
- この店では 刺し身が 食べられます。Sashimi is available at this restaurant.
ように aims at an ability, state, or avoided result
V-可能／V-ない + ように、BThe first clause often uses a potential form, a non-volitional change, or a negative form. It sets a target state or prevents an outcome, and the subjects of the two clauses may differ.
Examples
- よく 見えるように、大きく 書きました。I wrote it large so that it would be easy to see.
- 子供が 触らないように、薬を 上の棚に 置きます。I will put the medicine on a high shelf so that children do not touch it.
ように targets a resulting state; ために names an intentional purpose
V-可能／V-ない + ように ↔ V-辞書 + ためにUse ように for an ability, non-volitional change, or avoided outcome. Use ために when the same person intentionally takes an action to achieve another action. They are not interchangeable merely because both may translate as for or so that.
Examples
- 日本語が 話せるように、毎日 練習します。I practise every day so that I can speak Japanese.
- 日本で 働くために、資格を 取りました。I obtained a qualification in order to work in Japan.
ようになる describes a change in ability, state, or habit
V-辞書／V-ない + ように なるThe focus is the new state after a change, not an immediate decision. A potential form often means become able to, while a negative form often means no longer do.
Examples
- けがが 治って、歩けるように なりました。After the injury healed, I became able to walk.
- 平仮名を 間違えないように なりました。I no longer make mistakes with hiragana.
ようにする expresses deliberate effort or a maintained habit
V-辞書／V-ない + ように するUse ようにします for a decision and ようにしています for an ongoing habit. It expresses deliberate effort, not a guarantee that the result has already been achieved.
Examples
- 毎日 30分 歩くように しています。I make a habit of walking for thirty minutes every day.
- 寝る前に 食べないように します。I will try not to eat before bed.
Expressions and situations
Potential forms express personal ability or situational availability
泳げる can mean knowing how to swim or being able to swim because a place or situation permits it. Read the subject, place, and context rather than always translating it as know how to.
- わたしは 500メートル 泳げます。I can swim five hundred metres.
- この海岸では 夏に 泳げます。You can swim at this beach in summer.
見える means coming into view; 見られる means having an opportunity or means to view
Use 見える when something is naturally visible because of light, distance, or eyesight. Use 見られる when a facility, time, device, or permission makes viewing possible.
- 窓から 山が 見えます。The mountain is visible from the window.
- この映画は 配信で 見られます。This film can be watched by streaming.
聞こえる means being audible; 聞ける means having an opportunity or means to listen
Use 聞こえる when sound reaches you without deliberate action. Use 聞ける when equipment, timing, or access makes listening possible.
- 隣の 部屋から 音楽が 聞こえます。Music is audible from the next room.
- この番組は アプリで 聞けます。This programme can be heard through the app.
見れる and 来れる are established conversational shortened forms; use the full forms first in formal contexts
Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs surveys treat ら-dropping as a real language change rather than a simple all-purpose error. Beginners, tests, and formal writing should start with 見られる, 食べられる, and 来られる while learning to recognise conversational 見れる, 食べれる, and 来れる.
- 明日 来られますか。Can you come tomorrow? (full form)
- 明日 来れますか。Can you come tomorrow? (conversational ら-dropping)
食べられる can also be passive, so use sentence roles to disambiguate
わたしは刺し身が食べられる means I can eat sashimi. 魚が猫に食べられた means the fish was eaten by a cat. The verb form alone does not determine the meaning.
- 辛い物が 食べられます。I can eat spicy food.
- ケーキが 弟に 食べられました。The cake was eaten by my younger brother.
入り組んでいる describes an intricate route, structure, or explanation
It does not merely mean difficult. It describes parts interwoven in a way that is hard to grasp at once.
- この路地は 入り組んでいます。These alleys are intricate.
- 説明が 入り組んでいて、半分しか 分かりませんでした。The explanation was intricate, and I understood only half.
なんだか marks a feeling or judgment whose reason is unclear
It often means somehow or for some reason and is vaguer than stating a clear cause. It can introduce happiness, regret, strangeness, unease, and similar feelings.
- なんだか うれしいです。Somehow, I feel happy.
- エンジンが なんだか おかしいです。Something seems wrong with the engine.
ようにしてください asks someone to maintain or avoid a behaviour
It suits rules, ongoing care, and habitual requests. For one specific action, てください or ないでください is usually clearer.
- 毎日 メールを 確認するように してください。Please make sure to check email every day.
- 番号を 間違えないように してください。Please make sure not to enter the wrong number.
英字新聞 usually means an English-language newspaper, not any newspaper printed in Roman letters
In this established expression, 英字 refers to English. For a newspaper in another language, name that language directly, as in フランス語の新聞.
- 毎日 英字新聞を 読むように しています。I make a habit of reading an English-language newspaper every day.
What you should be able to do
- Convert 16 representative verbs to potential forms and then change tense and polarity.
- Rewrite action clauses as potential clauses and judge whether が or を is more natural.
- Choose ように or ために according to ability, avoidance, or intentional purpose.
- Report change with ようになる and explain effort or habit with ようにする.
- Distinguish 見える／見られる, 聞こえる／聞ける, and full versus conversational ら-dropped forms.
- Complete an original city walk: read field and culture vocabulary, respect residential space, and verify official place-name readings and origins.
Culture and real use
Hutongs and Tokyo place names: urban history remains connected to life today
Beijing's current historic-city conservation regulation protects traditional hutongs formed in the Qing period or earlier, historic lanes, and traditional place names, while stressing continuity of social life and integration with modern living. A hutong may be both a visitor space and an everyday residential space. Ask before photographing people, residential courtyards, or shop interiors, and follow signs on site. Tokyo place names likewise cannot be reduced to one rule. Chiyoda preserves individual histories through place-name boards and publishes official readings; 鍛冶町, for example, is かじちょう. Shinjuku explains that 歌舞伎町 was named for a post-war plan to attract a kabuki theatre; the theatre plan was not realised, but the name remained. Whether 町 is read まち or ちょう, and whether a name comes from an occupation, terrain, facility, or planning history, should be checked place by place with the local authority or postal address data.
- ここは 生活している 人が いるので、写真を 撮る前に 確認します。People live here, so I will check before taking photographs.
- 町名の 読み方は、住所の 公式情報で 確認します。I will verify the place-name reading in official address information.
- 歴史を 残しながら、生活も 続けられるようにします。We aim to preserve history while allowing everyday life to continue.