93504
> India is a nuclear-capable country.

インドは核 **保有** 国です。 =having/has/possesses

> He is a capable person.

彼は **有能な** 人です。 =an able x

> He is capable of piloting a plane.

彼は飛行機を操縦 **することができます** 。 =has ability of x

—-

Is there a solid word, written or spoken, to mean capable as in “having power
_and_ ability”?

—-

For example, a retired pilot (ability) is not capable of flying a plane
because they have no power to do so; Canada supplies the world with enriched
uranium and has centrifuge facilities (power), but does not have the expertise
to go further (ability); A person with intelligence and family money (ability)
who engages exclusively in vice after vice is not a capable person (power over
oneself).
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2022-02-22T00:44:13.130
93494
2022-02-23T17:13:25.403
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question
translation word-choice nuances
Capable as in “having power and ability”?
You may assess this by checking if a reasonable excuse/justification can be
added or not.

  * A retired pilot **has ability** but... can't fly because of license expiration (reasonable excuse)
  * A certified pilot **has power** but... but can't fly because of diarrhea (reasonable excuse)

* * *

The convenient word **できる** may be used as ability, power, competency, etc (or
include all of them)., but also accepts excuses/justifications due to its
vague nature. We've all heard of such phrase:

  * "( **本当は** )できる けれど、 **実際** は ○○のため できない"
  * "できる（ **能力を有する** ） けれど、 ○○のため できない"
  * "できる（ **立場にある** ） けれど、 ○○のため できない"

Thus you might want to accept a combination of words such as:

"能力的にも立場・政治的にも遂行することが可能である"

"It is doable in terms of both capability and power/political-situation"

* * *

I have encountered a word that won't accept any excuse whatsoever -
**available**. A provider "available at your command" implies it is competent,
capable, authorized, and ready to serve under the current circumstance. There
will be no "but..." or "however..." allowed. Note that it's starting to get
subjective from here, and the following word may be industry-specific instead
of an "official" word:

The degree of "being available" is **可用性** , and is measured between low or
high. If one's availability reaches 100%, you have a service provider that is
"having power and ability" to satisfy the given requirement.

As long as "可用性が水準を満たしている" (availability satisfies the requirement), it can,
shall, and will get the job done as it is already equipped with the capability
and authorized with power.
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2022-02-22T02:02:13.903
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answer
I messaged some native speakers; this is a tough one. できる, 有能な, 可能な, and 能力
have their unique nuances (even though 能力 looks kind of like ‘skillset/talent’
fused with ‘power’, which is what one of the definitions of _capable_ is.)

Given the examples, I’m told 可能な is the most versatile choice closest to
_capable_.

However, here is what I reverse-engineered from Google Translate as an
experiment that a few Japanese who have been in North America for a while find
okay (as a new word, but makes sense to them). Good enough unless there is a
better word or loan-word out there.

[![capable](https://i.stack.imgur.com/f4tFZ.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/f4tFZ.jpg)

例) 彼はケーパブルな人です。

Pulling on this thread just a bit more…

[![tom](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ln3nz.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ln3nz.jpg)

Some may see how 有能な makes sense naturally and grammatically, but… “has
talent/skillset” for something you cannot practice yet you can only do
correctly once? English’s _capable_ works fine here. (Not to mention the mess
with “Tom would make an _unwitting_ , capable s—— bomber.”)

—-

**Update** : I’m accepting my own answer because it is not lost in the weeds
of picking apart examples and the only answer that tries to capture the
concept. Native Japanese in Japan say “there isn’t a single word for capable”,
and Japanese who have lived in northern North America for some time say ケーパブル
is fine as a loan word because they recognize the nuance. Asked and answered.
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2022-02-22T05:58:03.740
93504
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I think the closest and most neutral equivalent of “capable” is 能力がある. It is
usually modified by something that comes before it as in 飛行機を操縦する能力があるパイロット
and 核兵器を保有する能力がある国. There may be circumstances where 飛行機を操縦する能力があるパイロット cannot
fly a plane, and 核兵器を保有する能力がある国 might choose not to possess nuclear weapons. I
think the same can be said about a pilot capable of flying a plane and a
country capable of possessing nuclear weapons.

The unmodified 能力がある, and 有能な, are usually reserved for people. 能力のある人 or 有能な人
might use their abilities for evil or waste them completely either by choice
or circumstance. I am not sure if the same can be said about a capable person.
I would guess so.
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2022-02-22T06:58:33.600
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The short answer is no, there is no single Japanese word or phrase that
precisely corresponds to the English word "capable" in the range of contexts
you have included in your question. In part, this is simply because English
and Japanese are two very different languages; naturally, there are many words
in each that do not have precise, one-to-one equivalents in the other.

Beyond that, however, I have to say that the definition of "capable" that you
have posited in your question seems arbitrary and idiosyncratic,* and is
fatally undermined by a putative distinction between "power" and "ability"
that doesn't bear much scrutiny. (For example, you have characterized
intelligence and family money as an "ability" and engaging in "vice after
vice" as evidence of a lack of "power." Couldn't one just as easily say that
intelligence and money are forms of "power," while engaging in vice after vice
betrays a lack of "ability" to control oneself?) In other words, I'm not at
all sure that the word "capable," as you understand it and have attempted to
define it, really exists even in English!

* * *

*[Merriam-Webster's entry for "capable"](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/capable) includes six definitions, none of which specifies that being "capable" requires two separate attributes comparable to your "power _and_ ability."
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