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The word kaneru in Japanese is a particularly tricky one for learners because, firstly, it has two very different meanings, and, secondly, with one of those meanings it is usually used in the negative, but with what in English we would call a "positive" meaning, and, when used in the positive, has a "negative" meaning. Confused already" Wait around - we'll get to it in a bit.

The most simple and straightforward of kaneru's meanings is "to double up," "combine," "be concurrent," "serve two different purposes," or "do two things, simultaneously."

The kanji itself for kaneru suggests this doubleness, twinness, in its shape, being very nearly vertically symmetrical. Its main radical is hachi, ?, the kanji for 8, which itself is symmetrical.
This meaning is usually expressed using the onyomi, which is ken. For example, a study (shosai) that also serves as a bedroom (shinshitsu) is a shosai-ken-shinshitsu - the ken sounding similar to the cum we would use in English: a study-cum-bedroom.

As a verb, kaneru, expresses this multiple-use meaning in such phrases as Risoteki na shigoto wa shumi to jitsueki o kaneru ???????????????? "The ideal job combines pastime and profit."

However, the same kaneru is used to express a completely different meaning - that of reluctance, hesitation, refusal, inability. It is often tacked onto the end of another verb to express this meaning. For example,...