～かねない — Liable To Go Wrong
Expresses the speaker's worry that something bad could well happen or that someone is capable of doing something undesirable. It carries a negative, cautionary tone — 'might just; could easily; is liable to.' Despite ending in a negative-looking ～ない, the meaning is affirmative: the bad outcome IS possible.
Structure
[Verb ます-stem] + かねない
Examples
そんなに無理をすると、病気になりかねないよ。
Sonna ni muri o suru to, byouki ni narikanenai yo.
If you push yourself that hard, you could well end up getting sick.
なり (stem of なる) + かねない warns of the likely bad result
彼なら、そんなひどいことも言いかねない。
Kare nara, sonna hidoi koto mo iikanenai.
Knowing him, he might just say something that awful.
言い (stem of 言う) + かねない implies he is capable of the negative act
この道は暗くて、事故が起こりかねない。
Kono michi wa kurakute, jiko ga okorikanenai.
This road is dark, so an accident is liable to happen.
起こり + かねない predicts a possible undesirable event
• Only used for NEGATIVE / undesirable outcomes — never for good results. • Meaning is positive possibility despite the ～ない ending; do not translate as 'cannot.' • Register: neutral; common in warnings and news writing.
Commonly confused with
The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones ～かねない is tested against.
vs かねる
かねない means 'might (badly) happen'; かねる means 'cannot bring oneself to do.' Opposite polarity despite similar look.
vs おそれがある
おそれがある is a more formal noun-based 'there is a fear that'; かねない attaches directly to a verb stem and feels more immediate.
More modal expressions
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