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Subject: hanashimasu, hanasemasu
From: TAKASUGI Shinji (tssf.airnet.ne.jp)
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 07:36:04 GMT
References: 1

The verbal suffix -(rar)e-ru is used for the potential form. In colloquial Japanese, -(r)e-ru is used.

Here is a chart of colloquial Japanese. Remember the last -(r)u means nonpast tense.

Plain: hanas-u
Polite: hanas-imas-u
Potential: hanas-e-ru
Pot.+Pol.: hanas-e-mas-u

Plain: tabe-ru
Polite: tabe-mas-u
Potential: tabe-re-ru
Pot.+Pol.: tabe-re-mas-u

Adding -(i)mas-u to hanas-u gives hanas-imas-u, which is different from hanas-e-mas-u.

If you prefer hiragana, see below:

はなす (plain) → はなします (polite)
↓
はなせる (potential) → はなせます (potential + polite)


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