Structure
Verb［ます］+ かねない
Noun + に + かねない
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Standard
About かねない
The negative form of the る-Verb 兼ねる 'to spread across' (usually 2 different activities or thought processes) is a grammar pattern that indicates a possibility of (A) happening, especially when it is something that the speaker themselves cannot control. 兼ねない is often translated as 'might (A)', 'capable of (A)', or '(A) is a possibility'.
This structure will be seen connected to the ます-stem of verbs, or after nouns followed by に. Both the kanji and non-kanji forms may be used.
It is quite common to see 兼ねない come after conditional phrases that include と, ば, たら, でも, and similar structures. This indicates that 'if (A) were to happen, (B) may also occur'.
Caution
While this grammar structure is most often used to highlight negative outcomes, it may also be used to indicate or desire or wish sarcastically.
- ちゃんと毎日勉強すれば、来週のテストは合格できかねない。If I study everyday, I might do well on the test next week.
Fun-fact
As 兼ねる means 'to spread across', in the negative, this expression can be thought of as similar to 'to not be a stretch' in English. It just indicates the action of (A) would not be a stretch of the ability or capacity of whoever or whatever is being discussed.
- 彼女はどんな病気でも治しかねない。It wouldn't be a stretch to say that she can cure any disease.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Examples
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この事をそのままにしていたら、摩擦をうみ兼ねない。
If you leave it at that, it might cause conflict.
この犬に噛まれたら、大怪我をしかねない。[する]
If his dog bites you, it is capable of causing serious injury.
危険な運転をすれば、事故が起こり兼ねない。
If you drive dangerously, an accident might occur.
この犬に噛まれたら、大怪我をしかねない。
If his dog bites you, it is capable of causing serious injury.
この程度の怪我でも、ウイルスに感染し兼ねない。
Even with this degree of injury, you might get a virus infection.
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かねない – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (6 in total)
jakedesu2010
It appears that this grammar structure can come after a noun, however none of the example sentences show this structure, nor could I find any examples online. Does anyone have any good examples?
sergiop
Not sure if you were referring to the を兼ねて grammar point referred above or the one with the negative. But if it is the first case, maybe the reason you were not able to find examples online is because the がてら grammar point that has the same meaning is used instead of it. See the highlight part in the Handbook:
sergiop
In classical Japanese, what I found was a correspondence to あわせて or と同時に、
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