1.
qualification, certification
Official credentials showing competence in a field.
資格を取る。
To obtain a qualification.
資格試験
Certification exam.
彼女は医師の資格を持っているが、今は研究に専念している。
She has a medical license but is now focusing on research.
2.
eligibility, right
The status of being entitled to do something.
投票する資格がある。
To be eligible to vote.
そんなことを言う資格はない。
You have no right to say such things.
彼には代表チームの選手に選ばれる資格が十分にある。
He is fully eligible to be selected for the national team.
資格 covers both formal credentials (certifications, licenses) and the abstract notion of eligibility or right to do something.
COMMON PATTERNS:
- 資格を取る: to obtain a qualification/license
- 資格を持つ: to hold a qualification
- 資格がある: to be eligible, to have the right
- 資格がない: to be ineligible, to have no right
- 資格試験: certification/licensing exam
- 資格証明書: certificate of qualification
USAGE:
In sense 2 (eligibility), often used in moral or social contexts: そんなことを言う資格はない (You have no right to say that).
HOMOPHONES:
- 四角: square (shape)
- 視覚: vision, sight
- 死角: blind spot