Is 売られる the potential form of 売る?


I came across this sentence:

> 米はキロ単位で売られる。

The translation given was "Rice is sold by the kilogram." I assume that 売られる's
meaning is more like "is sold" or "to be sold" than "can be sold".

Can 売られる be used for "can be sold" (potential)? If not, would I use a
different word or just 「売るのはできる」？




For godan verbs like 売る, its potential form and passive form look different.

  * **売る** : dictionary form, "to sell (something)"
  * **売られる** : passive form, "(something) is sold"
  * **売れる** : potential form, "can sell (something)"

売られる almost always means "is sold", not "can sell" nor "can be sold".
(Strictly speaking, there are a few old people that still use 売られる for the
potential meaning, but it's fairly rare.)

"can be sold" is **passive-potential** (the combination of potential and
passive), which is tricky to express in Japanese (see
[this](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/29727/5010)). Depending on the
context, you can say either 売られうる or 売られることができる, but it's usually better to
rephrase it to the non-passive equivalent. If 売れる or 売ることができる works for you,
you can just use it.

