Okay.

Potential Form

To make the potential form, start with the plain form of the verb.

For -u verbs, change the -u to -eru. For example, 飲む (nomu, to drink) becomes 飲める (nomeru, to be able to drink).
For -ru verbs, change the -ru to -rareru. For example, 食べる (taberu, to eat) becomes 食べられる (taberareru, to be able to eat).

The new verb is always a -ru verb, so the negative potential forms are 飲めない (nomenai, to be unable to drink) and 食べられない (taberarenai, to be unable to eat). The normal polite formations for -ru verbs apply too, so you might have 飲めます or 食べられません.

There are two exceptions to the rule:

The potential form of する (suru, to do) is 出来る (dekiru, to be able to do).
The potential form of 来る (kuru, to come) is 来られる (korareru, to be able to come).

[Aside: While 行く (iku, to go) is considered an irregular verb like suru and kuru, it is regular here -- its potential form is 行ける (ikeru, to be able to go.)]

Edit: So when you hear someone say "yamerarenai!", you can see that they mean "yameru + -rareru", meaning "I can't quit!" or "I can't give up!"

ok.. now THAT made sense to me xD

It's considered slang, but for these types of verbs you may also encounter cases where the -rareru is just -reru　（食べる(taberu - to eat)→食べれる(tabereru - to be able to eat) 、帰る(kaeru - to return)→帰れる (kaereru -
to be able to return)
This case also functions as a -ru verb.

諦める(akirameru - to give up)→諦められない(akiramerarenai - to be unable to give up)→諦めれない(akiramerenai - to be unable to give up)

It should also be noted that you do not use the direct object particle を(wo/o) with the potential form. Instead, use は(ha/wa) or が(ga).
扉が開けた　(Tobira ga aketa - I/He/She/It was able to open the door/gate)
日本語が話せる (Nihongo ga hanaseru - I/He/She/It can speak Japanese)

*nods* Arkhelist is correct about the slang formations and particle use. I probably should have mentioned the particle issues in my lesson!

*writs this all down* xox

Coda~!!! I found some lyrics with the rareru stuff in it ouo

"I wanna be with you now
いつの日かdistanceも
抱きしめられるようになれるよ
We can start sooner
やっぱりI wanna be with you "

"I wanna be with you now
Itsu no hi ka distance mo
Dakishimerareru you ni nareru yo
We can start sooner
Yappari I wanna be with you"

"I wanna be with you
Someday even this distance
We'll be able to embrace
We can start sooner
After all I wanna be with you"

=w= thread died again

HEY! I managed to memorize katakana finally ouo

now on to kanji and learning to properly read stuff *o*

スゴイ〜！

Good job, DK.

ありがとうコダさん！
Thank you Coda! ouo

Right now I'm memorizng the kanji for the first ten numbers ouo,

is there a kanji for '0' zero?

I think technically there might be, but everyone just uses 〇.

=w= i see. so they just use maru 〇◎●
maru is fun x'D

Actually I typed "zero" :P

it came with the same thing ono its a circle in the end.

Yup. It's just nice (and sort of amusing) that it's there that way.

I was looking for online japanese schools.. one school didn't have prices of their classes so i Emailed them =w=,

they say one 50 minute class is about 20-25$.. talk about insane.. i could use that for a month subscription at japanesepod101 xp

Well, the thread has dropped to page two, so time to post some more song lyrics! XD This is a song I first heard before I learned Japanese but I fell in love with it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSo_GgFDxCY

元気をだして、もう泣かないで	(genki wo dashite, mou nakanaide "cheer up, don't cry anymore")
明日になれば、すべてかわるわ	(ashita ni nareba, subete kawaru wa "when tomorrow comes, everything will change")
元気をだして、もう泣かないで	(genki wo dashite, mou nakanaide "cheer up, don't cry anymore")
新しい風向かって、SMILE AGAIN	(atarashii kaze mukatte, smile again "face the new wind and smile again")

There's not a whole lot of surprising grammar here, so you should be able to follow the translation for the vocabulary. The only thing that might be an unknown is "nareba", which is "naru" (to become) + -eba (conditional form). It might be more directly translated as "if it becomes tomorrow", but it can also mean "when".

=o Music makes such good lessons <3