得る: The える／うる Dual Reading | Japanese Grammar

得る is two things wearing one kanji. As a plain verb it means "to gain, to obtain" and reads える, conjugating as a regular 一段 verb (得ます・得た・得られる). As a suffix attached to another verb's stem, 〜得る means "can, be possible, be conceivable," and here it may be read the modern える or the classical うる — but only in the dictionary form. あり得る is read either ありうる or ありえる; あり得ない is read only ありえない. This page maps exactly which cells take うる and which take え, and explains the 下二段 fossil behind the split.

The main verb: 得る = える (fully 一段)

Used on its own, 得る means "obtain / acquire / gain" — data, trust, profit, information — and is read える in every form. It inflects as an ordinary 一段 verb, so treat it like 食べる:

Form	得る (to gain / obtain)	Reading
Dictionary	得る	eru
Polite	得ます	emasu
Negative	得ない	enai
Past	得た	eta
Te-form	得て	ete
Potential / Passive	得られる	erareru
Conditional 〜ば	得れば	ereba

実験から貴重なデータを得た。

jikken kara kichō na dēta o eta

We obtained valuable data from the experiment. (formal/written)

彼は地道な努力で上司の信頼を得た。

kare wa jimichi na doryoku de jōshi no shinrai o eta

He earned his boss's trust through steady effort.

ネットからは得られない情報もある。

netto kara wa erarenai jōhō mo aru

There's information you simply can't get off the internet. (得られない = える-base)

The main verb 得る is (formal/written); everyday speech prefers もらう or 手に入れる for "get." Note that even its own potential/passive 得られる sits on the え-base — never ×うられる.

The suffix 〜得る: possibility, not ability

Attach 得る to another verb's ます-stem（連用形） and you get "it is possible/conceivable to _" — a logical possibility, distinct from the ability sense of 〜られる potentials. This is the "can happen / can be" of formal writing:

あり得る — "possible, can exist"
起こり得る — "can (conceivably) happen"
考え得る — "conceivable"
なり得る — "can become"
知り得る — "can come to know"

Here — and only here, in the dictionary/attributive form — the reading may be the classical うる. Both readings are correct; うる is the traditional one, ありえる is a newer analogical form now fully accepted.

地震はいつでも起こり得る。

jishin wa itsu demo okori uru

An earthquake can happen at any time. (formal/written)

それは誰にでも起こり得るミスだ。

sore wa dare ni demo okori uru misu da

That's a mistake that could happen to anyone.

彼は次のリーダーになり得る人材だ。

kare wa tsugi no rīdā ni nari uru jinzai da

He's the kind of person who could become the next leader. (attributive, before 人材)

💡

Think of 〜得る as "can, in principle." 話し得る is not how you say "I can speak" — that is 話せる. Use 〜得る for whether something is conceivable or possible (起こり得る "can happen"), not for a person's practical skill.

Where the dual reading comes from — the 下二段 fossil

The split is a genuine relic. In Classical Japanese, 得 was a 下二段（しもにだん）verb whose forms ran え・え・う・うる・うれ・えよ. Its 終止形（sentence-final "u"） and 連体形（pre-noun "uru"） were the u-forms; every other slot used the e-base.

When Modern Japanese collapsed the 下二段 class into 一段, the main verb modernized fully to える. But the possibility-suffix 〜得る preserved the old 終止形/連体形うる in its frozen literary use. That is why うる shows up in exactly the two places classical grammar used a u-form — sentence-final and before a noun (the "dictionary/attributive" slot) — and nowhere else. The moment you inflect (negative, past, te-form, conditional), you fall back on the surviving え-base, because those slots were always え.

Slot	Reading	Example
Dictionary / before a noun	うる or える	あり得る (ari uru / ari eru)
Polite 〜ます	え only	あり得ます (ari emasu)
Negative	え only	あり得ない (ari enai)
Past	え only	あり得た (ari eta)
Te-form	え only	あり得て (ari ete)

あり得ない: the one everyone actually says

While the productive 〜得る suffix is bookish, one form has burst into everyday casual speech: あり得ない（ありえない） — "impossible / no way / unbelievable." Because it is a negative, it is locked to the え-reading; there is no ×ありうない.

え、そんなのありえない！

e, sonna no ari enai!

What? That's impossible — no way! (casual)

あの状況で成功するなんて、普通ならあり得ない。

ano jōkyō de seikō suru nante, futsū nara ari enai

Succeeding in that situation would normally be out of the question.

考え得る限りの対策は、すべて取った。

kangae uru kagiri no taisaku wa, subete totta

We took every conceivable countermeasure. (考え得る, attributive)

業務上知り得た秘密は、口外してはいけない。

gyōmujō shiri eta himitsu wa, kōgai shite wa ikenai

You must not disclose secrets you come to know in the course of work. (知り得た, past → え-base; standard contract wording)

Common mistakes

❌ そんなことは、ありうない。

Incorrect — the negative is locked to the え-base: あり得ない (ありえない), never ×ありうない.

✅ そんなことは、あり得ない。

sonna koto wa, ari enai

That sort of thing is impossible.

❌ 去年なら、それもありうった。

Incorrect — the past never uses the うる base. It is あり得た (ありえた).

✅ 去年なら、それもあり得た。

kyonen nara, sore mo ari eta

A year ago, that would have been possible too.

❌ 誰にでも起こりえられるミスだ。

Incorrect — the suffix is 得る itself; don't add 〜られる. It's 起こり得る (おこりうる／おこりえる).

✅ 誰にでも起こり得るミスだ。

dare ni demo okori uru misu da

It's a mistake that could happen to anyone.

❌ 努力して、ついに信頼をうった。

Incorrect — the main verb 得る 'obtain' is read える, not うる. The past is 得た (えた).

✅ 努力して、ついに信頼を得た。

doryoku shite, tsuini shinrai o eta

Through hard work, he finally won their trust.

Key takeaways

The main verb 得る "to gain/obtain" is read える and conjugates as a full 一段 verb (得ます・得た・得て・得られる) — always the え-base.
The suffix 〜得る "can/be possible" may be read うる or える, but only in the dictionary/attributive form: ありうる＝ありえる.
Every inflected slot uses the え-base: あり得ない（ありえない）, あり得た（ありえた）, あり得て — there is no ×ありうない, ×ありうった.
The split is a 下二段 fossil: うる is the surviving classical 終止形/連体形; え is the base for all other forms.
〜得る expresses conceivable possibility ("can happen"), not everyday ability — for skill, use the regular potential 話せる, 見られる.

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