How to distinguish 恐れがある and かねない？


Both かねない and 恐れがある mean that there is the possibility that something bad can
happen. However, I would like to know if there are some differences that make
them apart. Thank you!




"...かねない" describes you cannot deny that the unwanted things might happen.

I would say

> 早く起きないと、学校に行く電車に乗り遅れかねない。

`You might miss the train which goes to school on time if you do not wake up
early.`

"...恐れがある" also describes the unwanted things happen. However it is normally
used on formal things such as weather forecast, stock prices and so on.

I encounter [the
sentence](https://tenki.jp/forecaster/t_okamoto/2019/07/19/5296.html) from
tenki.jp :

> 沖縄や西日本、東日本は、あす20日(土)にかけて大雨のおそれがある。

`In Okinawa, Western Japan, or Eastern Japan there is a risk that it will rain
heavily from now to tomorrow, 20th on Saturday.`

