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JLPT N3Formal Expressions

～かねる— Unable To Bring Oneself To

A polite, softened way to say you cannot or are unwilling to do something, usually because it is difficult, improper, or against your position. Rather than a flat refusal, it conveys 'I'm afraid I can't quite...' It is a staple of business and customer-service Japanese.

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Pro lessonUNIT 106 · FORMAL EXPRESSIONS

Structure · 形

[Verb ます-stem] + かねる

Examples · 例文

  • 申し訳ございませんが、その件についてはお答えしかねます。

    Moushiwake gozaimasen ga, sono ken ni tsuite wa okotae shikanemasu.

    I'm very sorry, but I'm unable to answer regarding that matter.

    お答えし (humble stem) + かねます = a soft, polite 'cannot answer'

  • そのご意見には賛成しかねます。

    Sono goiken ni wa sansei shikanemasu.

    I'm afraid I cannot agree with that opinion.

    賛成し + かねます softens a disagreement politely

  • お客様のご要望にはお応えいたしかねます。

    Okyakusama no goyoubou ni wa okotae itashikanemasu.

    We are unable to meet the customer's request.

    いたし (humble stem) + かねます, very polite refusal

Usage notes · 注意

  • Register: formal/business; a courteous way to refuse or decline.
  • Meaning is negative ('cannot'), the opposite of かねない.
  • Often follows a humble verb (お～する / いたす) in service contexts.

Commonly confused with

The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones ～かねる is tested against.

vsかねない

かねる = 'cannot / unwilling to do'; かねない = 'might (badly) do/happen.' Do not confuse the polarity.

vsにくい

にくい describes something objectively hard to do; かねる expresses the speaker's polite refusal or reluctance to do it.

More formal expressions

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