No. 454 in Japanese
言える
"Can say" or "able to say."
In a sentence
彼の努力の成果は成功と言える。
His efforts' results can be said to be a success.
言える here functions as a potential form of 'say', used to express a possibility or a subjective claim.
この本は全ての人におすすめできると言える。
This book can be said to be recommendable to everyone.
言える expresses a potential statement about the quality of the book.
あの日私たちが聞いたのが幽霊の声と言えるのだろうか。
Can we say that the sound we heard that day was the voice of a ghost?
言える is used to propose a hypotheses about the voice.
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