可能性がある|かのうせいがある

JLPT N1approx.Neutral

Meaning

Expresses that something may happen or may be the case: "there is a possibility that…". It states likelihood fairly objectively and can describe both desirable and undesirable outcomes.

Formation

Verb (Dictionary form / ta-form / nai-form)＋可能性がある

i-adj.＋可能性がある

na-adj.＋なである＋可能性がある

Noun＋のである＋可能性がある

Degree可能性が高い / 低い / 大きいto indicate how likely something is

Negative可能性はない / 可能性は低い

Examples

あの地域ちいきでは、再来週さらいしゅうにも大地震だいじしんが発生はっせいする可能性かのうせいがある。

There is a possibility that a major earthquake could strike that region as early as the week after next.

睡眠不足すいみんふそくは、重大じゅうだいな病気びょうきの原因げんいんとなる可能性かのうせいがある。

Lack of sleep can potentially become the cause of serious illness.

Usage

Common in news reports, forecasts, scientific and medical explanations, and business contexts, but also usable in everyday speech. It presents a possibility in an analytical, relatively objective tone, rather than as a personal guess. Adjectives such as 高い or 低い can replace ある to quantify the likelihood.

Watch out

Learners sometimes attach a noun directly; insert の or である, as in 病気の可能性がある.

Note that this pattern is neutral about outcomes, whereas 恐れがある is limited to undesirable ones.

Do not overuse it in casual conversation, where かもしれない usually sounds more natural.

Easily confused with

かもしれないN4「かもしれない」 expresses the speaker's subjective conjecture with a reserved tone; 「可能性がある」 is more objective and formal, and can take 「高い」 or 「低い」 to indicate degree. When 「かもしれない」 attaches to a noun or the stem of a な-adjective, no 「の」 or 「な」 is added.
恐れがあるN2「恐れがある」 is used only for negative situations, has a written style, and appears often in news, weather forecasts, and announcements. When predicting a bad outcome the two are interchangeable, but for positive possibilities only 「可能性がある」 can be used.
かねないN2「かねない」 is used only for feared negative outcomes and carries a warning or critical tone, attaching only to the verb ます-stem; 「可能性がある」 is objective in tone and works for both good and bad outcomes. They are interchangeable only when describing a bad result, but the tone differs.
ないとも限らないN1「ないとも限らない」 attaches to the ない-form and uses double negation to mean 'it cannot be ruled out that...', with a written-style, indirect tone, often used to explain why preparations are needed; 「可能性がある」 is more objective and neutral, and can also take 「高い」 or 「低い」 to show the degree of possibility.
に違いないN3「に違いない」 expresses confident subjective conviction, meaning 'it must be that...'; 「可能性がある」 only objectively states that something is possible, with a lower degree of certainty, so the two cannot be interchanged. When a noun or the stem of a な-adjective attaches to 「に違いない」, no 「の」 or 「な」 is added.
もしかしたらN3「もしかしたら」 is an adverb placed at the start of a sentence or before the predicate, expressing subjective, uncertain conjecture, and often pairs with 「かもしれない」; 「可能性がある」 functions as a predicate at the end of the sentence, is more objective, and can take 「高い」 or 「低い」 to indicate degree.

Compared with the more subjective, conversational かもしれない (often paired with もしかしたら), 可能性がある sounds analytical and objective, and unlike 恐れがある and かねない it is not limited to bad outcomes. ないとも限らない only says a possibility cannot be ruled out, while に違いない expresses strong conviction rather than mere possibility.

Grammar · JLPT grammar levels are community estimates, not official (no official lists have been published since the 2010 revision).

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