かねる (kaneru) Meaning Japanese Grammar - Cannot Do
Anna Baffa Volpe
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Anna Baffa Volpe
5 min reading time
かねる (kaneru) in Japanese is a verb in the affirmative form, but it actually has a negative meaning and translates as: cannot do; cannot afford to do; be unable to do, find difficult to do and be reluctant to do.
The expression is considered formal and is generally used in the professional sphere.
In this post we will see its usage and the verbs and expressions that are particularly used in conjunction with かねる.
How かねる is formed
かねる is generally used combined with verbs. Its transcription in Kanji is 兼ねる, but it is most commonly found transcribed in Hiragana.
- 見る Ichidan verb becomes 見かねる
- 分かる Godan verb ⇨ 分かりかねる
- する Irregular verb ⇨ しかねる
かねる for actions that are difficult and impossible to perform
かねる expresses the difficulty and often the impossibility of accomplishing an action due to external circumstances and situations.
The structure using かねる has affirmative form, but negative meaning.
There are many points on which I disagree with Mr Yamadaya's opinion.
- The nuance of meaning is: there are several points where I just find it hard to agree with, I just can't agree with.
If we want to explain the meaning of かねる in Japanese using other structures:
- ～しようとしてもできない:
trying to do something but can't - 〜するのが難しくできない:
it's difficult and I can't do it - 〜したくても〜できない:
I'd like to do it, but I can't - expresses a situation of 不可能
impossibility
You can't use かねる when talking about the inability to do something.
We can't say:
- 英語を話しかねる to express the fact of not being able to speak English.
I will use the potential forms and say:
- 英語ができない
- 英語を話すことができない
- 英語が話せない
Unable to bear the stress of work, he decided to change jobs.
かねる expresses a situation of impossibility due to psychological factors, circumstances, situations that I perceive to be difficult.
彼女が何も知らないので真実を知らせかねて黙った。
He remained silent, unable to tell the truth because she knew nothing.
- We find in the structure 知らせかねて the causative form that translates make someone do something. In this case the translation is: I could not let her know the truth, it was difficult for me to let her know the truth.
As we anticipated かねる is a formal expression used a lot in the business, commercial field.
For example, in the conditions of sale of a product we might find the phrase:
セール商品の返品、交換は致しかねます。
Sale items cannot be returned or exchanged.
In the sentence expressing the condition for sale, the verb 致す is used, which is the Keigo form of する.
Verbs and expressions used with かねる
There are verbs and expressions that are particularly used with かねる and they are:
- 賛成しかねる: I cannot agree
- 納得しかねる: I am not convinced, I have some reservations about that
- 賛同しかねる: I cannot agree with you, I do not support your opinion
- 決めかねる: I can't decide
一人では決めかねる。
It is hard to decide alone.
It is difficult to make decisions alone.
Another phrase that can be found and heard in the professional sphere:
責任を負いかねます。
We do not take responsibility.
- 分る is another verb that is combined with かねる and expresses the difficulty to understand.
彼の考えは私にはわかりかねる。
I don't know what he thinks.
I just can't understand what he's thinking.
Example with the verb 答える
answer,reply:
Sorry, but I cannot answer that question.
Example with the verb 決める decide:
車を買うかどうか、決めかねている。
I can't decide whether to buy a car or not.
- We find in this last sentence かねる in its ている form, which expresses in this case the state, the condition of difficulty in deciding something.
かねない: causes that generate negative effects
The negative of かねる is かねない and かねません in the polite form; it is translated with an affirmative form. It indicates the possibility that an action or condition will occur. This form is often used for unpleasant situations; a given cause generally produces a negative effect.
毎日ファストフードばっかり食べていると、病気になりかねない。
If you eat fast food all the time, you may get sick.
Another example where health is mentioned:
健康的な生活を送らないと、体調を崩しかねません。
If you do not lead a healthy lifestyle, you may get sick.
Literally: there is a chance for the body to deteriorate; there is a chance for the body to get sick.
人工知能の技術がこのまま発達すれば、人間の仕事はコンピューターに奪われかねません。
If artificial intelligence technology continues to develop at this rate, human jobs may be taken over by computers.
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