How Conditionals Work in Japanese: …と, …ば, …たら, and …なら

Last time, you learned how to express aims, e.g. “日に本ほんを旅行りょこうするために、日に本ほん語ごを勉べん強きょうしている (I’m studying Japanese to travel to Japan).” The variety of your expressions are certainly increasing now. Then, if you would like to say, “If you travel Japan, you should study Japanese,” how should it be? In this lesson, you will learn how to express conditionals.

Explanation for How to Express Conditionals in Japanese

When it comes to expressing conditionals in English, the word: “if” has a very important role. However, Japanese has four words which are the counterpart to “if.” They are  …と, …ば, …たら, and …なら. The proper one will be determined by relations between conditional clauses and main clauses. Thus, Japanese conditionals may be more complicated than English one. Let’s tackle the usages step by step.

…と: Constant Results and Actual Conditions

The first function is to express constant results. The conjugation is just to attach the plain (dictionary) form to と. When you use nouns and na-adjectives, you need to attach だ like 春だと. By constant results, we mean that it’s an unchanged fact, e.g. one plus one is always two. You can use this for natural phenomenons, habitual actions, programmed actions, etc.

The second function is to express actual conditions. This might be rather close to “and then” or “when” in English. In this context, と is often used when you introduce something that happened in the past.

This has another function which is to express sequential actions in the past. When you compare the usages between と and the te-form (sequential actions), と is more suitable to describe other people than yourself while て can describe yourself. Note: these are not conditional.

...ば: Hypothetical Conditions

Here, you have to tackle a new conjugation rule, which is called the ば-form. First, take a look at the following table to learn the conjugation. Then, learn the function that the ば-form has.

All Verbs: To Replace the last u with eba

I-adjectives: To Replace the last い with ければ

Na-adjectives and Nouns: To Attach であれば

Examples

The function is to express hypothetical conditions like if a hypothesis comes true, X will happen. This indicate that you place priority on the conditional clauses rather than the main clauses.

…たら: One-Time Results

The function is to express a one-time or a particular result. This has the widest usage and thus we can say たら is most common to express conditionals. The conjugation is to attach ら to the ta-form. By using this, you can express both actual and hypothetical conditions, e.g. １１時になる must come true and thus we define it as actual conditions.

Actual Conditions

Hypothetical Conditions

You can replace …たら with と when conditions are actual and …ば when conditions are hypothetical. Considering the characteristics, …と is more suitable for when results are constant and …ば is more suitable for when speakers focus on the conditional part.

…たら often appears when you express volition, requests, invitations, etc. It’s because the results should be a one-time or a particular one. In this context, …と is not interchangeable.

In this context, …ば is interchangeable only when the conditional clause indicates states such as constant states and the potential form, or subjects in the conditional clause are different from ones in the main clause.

…なら: Contextual Conditions

The function is to respond to someone in a given context. Regarding the other conditional words, you can set a context by yourself. However, you can use …なら only when given a context. With the above example, Ken first said “I will go to the festival,” and then you respond to it like “If you said so…” and “if that is the case…” The conjugation is just to attach なら to the plain (dictionary) form or the ta-form, which is the only one case that you can attach conditional words to the two forms. Note: You don’t attach だ when you use nouns and na-adjectives.

Contexts can be given not only in conversation, but also with actions. The following examples are said when you find a person who is about to leave.

Japanese people sometimes add の or ん before なら. Especially, if you use the ta-form with なら, it will sound more natural.

Practical Tips

You may be confused with the four ways of expressing “if.” It’s certainly not easy to properly use them in conversation. Here is a practical tip.

(1) Try to Use …たら

Firstly, please try to use …たら. This has the widest usages of the four and is interchangeable with …と and …ば. That is to say, you can make natural sentences except for when you need to use なら.

(2) Try to Use …なら If You Respond to Someone in Given a Context

Secondly, please try to use なら if …たら didn’t work well, i.e. if you respond to someone in given a context. This is the case where you cannot use …たら.

(Optional) Confirm Whether There Are More Natural Ones

If you use …たら, there may be more natural expressions. When you focus on the conditional clause, you should use …ば. When results are constant ones, you should use …と.

Related Expressions

もし: By Any Chance or If Any

もし gives a nuance of “by any chance” or “if any” to sentences. However, you cannot use it if conditional clauses indicate actual conditions because it will definitely come true.

どう（ですか）？: How about…?

どう（ですか） is the counterpart to “How about” in English. You can express suggestions like “how about doing [it]? This is generally used when you respond to someone, e.g. “今日きょうは何なにを食たべる (What will we eat today)？” “魚さかなはどう (how about fishes) ？”

Your speech will sound advice or recommendations if you combine the conditional form: ば or たら with どうですか. Be careful; this may have a critical tone. You should use this when someone seeks your advice. Otherwise, you should use this without ば and たら.

Summary

We know that the length of this lesson is long. Thus, please focus on the practical tips. Firstly, please master the usage of たら and なら. After that, you can enhance your expressions to be more natural. Conditionals are one of the most frequently used expression without doubt. It’s worthwhile taking the time. Next you will learn a similar expression: Reverse Conditions.