Vocabulary

ボール(ba a ru)

ball

落とす(お・とす) u-verb

to drop

落ちる(お・ちる) ru-verb

to fall

電気(でん・き)

electricity; (electric) light

消す(け・す) u-verb

to erase

暗い(くら・い) i-adj

dark

学校(がっ・こう)

school

行く(い・く) u-verb

to go

友達(とも・だち)

friend

会う(あ・う) u-verb

to meet

たくさん

a lot (amount)

太る(ふと・る) u-verb

to become fatter

先生(せん・せい)

teacher

きっと

for sure

年上(とし・うえ)

older

We’ll first cover the simplest type of “if” which is the natural consequence conditional. This means that if [X] happens, [Y] will happen as a natural consequence. No question about it. If I drop a ball, it will fall to the ground. If I turn off the lights at night, it will get dark. We can express this type of condition in the following format.

Examples

1. ボールを落すと落ちる。
   If you drop the ball, it will fall.

2. 電気を消すと暗くなる。
   If you turn off the lights, it will get dark.

These examples are designed to show how と is used to express natural consequence. However, even if the statement isn’t a natural consequence in itself, the と will tell the audience that it is nevertheless expected to be a natural consequence.

1. 学校に行かないと友達と会えないよ。
   If you don’t go to school, you can’t meet your friends.

2. たくさん食べると太るよ。
   If you eat a lot, you will get fat, for sure.

3. 先生だと、きっと年上なんじゃないですか？
   If he’s a teacher, he must be older for sure, right?

The “for sure” part is the implied meaning supplied by the と. The speaker is saying that the following condition will occur in that situation, no matter what. As you can see from the last example, if the condition is a state-of-being, it must be expressed so explicitly using だ. This applies to all non-conjugated nouns and na-adjectives as I’m sure you’re used to by now. This will also help prevent confusion with other types of と.

Vocabulary

皆(みんな)

everybody

行く(い・く) u-verb

to go

私(わたし)

me, myself, I

言う(い・う) u-verb

to say

問題(もん・だい)

problem

ある u-verb

to exist (inanimate)

図書館(と・しょ・かん)

library

あそこ

over there

Another relatively easy to understand type of “if” is the contextual conditional. You can use this particle to express what will happen given a certain context. For example, if you wanted to say, “Well, if everybody’s going, I’m going too” you would use the なら conditional because you are saying that you will go in the context of everybody else going. The contextual conditional always requires a context in which the conditional occurs. For instance, you would use it for saying things like, “If that’s what you are talking about…” or “If that’s the case, then…”

In a sense, you are explaining what would occur if you assume a certain condition is satisfied. In other words, you are saying “if given a certain context, here is what will happen.” You will see this reflected in the English translations as the phrase “if given” in the examples.

The なら is attached to the context in which the conditional occurs. The format is the same as the と conditional, however, you must not attach the declarative だ.

Examples

1. みんなが行くなら私も行く。
   If given that everybody is going, then I’ll go too.

2. アリスさんが言うなら問題ないよ。
   If given that Alice-san says so, there’s no problem.

Dialogue Example

アリス： 図書館はどこですか。
Alice: Where is the library?

ボブ： 図書館なら、あそこです。
Bob: If given that you’re talking about the library, then it’s over there.

The following is incorrect.

• 図書館だならあそこです。

You can also decide to use ならば instead of just なら. This means exactly the same thing except that it has a more formal nuance.

Vocabulary

食べる(た・べる) ru-verb

to eat

待つ(ま・つ) u-verb

to wait

おかしい i-adj

funny

ある u-verb

to exist (inanimate)

学生(がく・せい)

student

暇(ひま)

free　(as in not busy)

友達(とも・だち)

friend

会う(あ・う) u-verb

to meet

買い物(か・い・もの)

shopping

行く(い・く) u-verb

to go

お金(お・かね)

money

いい i-adj

good

楽しい(たの・しい) i-adj

fun

私(わたし)

me; myself; I

病気(びょう・き)

disease; sickness

なる u-verb

to become

The next type of conditional just expresses a regular “if” condition without any assumptions or embedded meanings. The conjugation rules for the ば conditional is below. Note, the conjugation rule for nouns and na-adjectives is actually using the verb ある in である, a formal expression we’ll learn much later.

Examples

1. 友達に会えれば、買い物に行きます。
   If I can meet with my friend, we will go shopping.

2. お金があればいいね。
   If I had money, it would be good, huh?

3. 楽しければ、私も行く。
   If it’s fun, I’ll go too.

4. 楽しくなければ、私も行かない。
   If it’s not fun, I’ll also not go.

5. 食べなければ病気になるよ。
   If you don’t eat, you will become sick.

Vocabulary

自動(じ・どう)

automatic

待つ(ま・つ) u-verb

to wait

読む(よ・む) u-verb

to read

忙しい(いそが・しい) i-adj

busy

暇(ひま)

free　(as in not busy)

遊ぶ(あそ・ぶ) u-verb

to play

行く(い・く) u-verb

to go

学生(がく・せい)

student

割引(わり・びき)

discount

買う(か・う) u-verb

to buy

友達(とも・だち)

friend

会う(あ・う) u-verb

to meet

買い物(か・い・もの)

shopping

お金(お・かね)

money

ある u-verb

to exist (inanimate)

いい i-adj

good

家(1) うち; 2) いえ)

one’s own home

house

帰る(かえ・る) u-verb

to go home

誰|だれ

who

いる ru-verb

to exist (animate)

アメリカ(a me ri ka)

America

たくさん

a lot (amount)

太る(ふと・る) u-verb

to become fatter

I call this next conditional the past conditional because it is produced by taking the past tense and just adding ら. It is commonly called the たら conditional because all past-tense ends with た／だ and so it always becomes たら／だら. Like the ば conditional, it is also a general conditional.

Examples

1. 暇だったら、遊びに行くよ。
   If I am free, I will go play.

2. 学生だったら、学生割引で買えます。
   If you’re a student, you can buy with a student discount.

For i-adjectives and verbs, it is very difficult to differentiate between the two types of conditionals, and you can make life easier for yourself by considering them to be the same. However there is a small difference in that the たら conditional focuses on what happens after the condition. This is another reason why I call this the past conditional because the condition is “in the past” (not literally) and we’re interested in the result not the condition. The ば conditional, on the other hand, focuses on the conditional part.

Let’s compare the difference in nuance.

Example 1

Ａ

友達に会えれば、買い物に行きます。

We will go shopping, if I can meet with my friend.

Ｂ

友達に会えたら、買い物に行きます。

If I can meet with my friend, we will go shopping.

Example 2

Ａ

お金があればいいね。

It would be good, if I had money, huh?

Ｂ

お金があったらいいね。

If I had money, it would be good, huh?

Going by the context, the ～たら form sounds more natural for both examples because it doesn’t seem like we’re really focusing on the condition itself. We’re probably more interested in what’s going to happen once we meet the friend or how nice it would be if we had money.

The past conditional is the only type of conditional where the result can be in the past. It may seem strange to have an “if” when the result has already taken place. Indeed, in this usage, there really is no “if”, it’s just a way of expressing surprise at the result of the condition. This has little to do with conditionals but it is explained here because the grammatical structure is the same.

1. 家に帰ったら、誰もいなかった。
   When I went home, there was no one there. (unexpected result)

2. アメリカに行ったら、たくさん太りました。
   As a result of going to America, I got really fat. (unexpected result)

You can also use たらば instead of たら. Similar to ならば, this means exactly the same thing except that it has a more formal nuance.

Vocabulary

もし

if by any chance

いい i-adj

good

映画(えい・が)

movie

観る(み・る) ru-verb

to watch

行く(い・く) u-verb

to go

時間(じ・かん)

time

ある u-verb

to exist (inanimate)

明日(あした)

tomorrow

Some of you may be aware of the word もし which means “if” and may be wondering how it fits into all of this. Well, if you want to say a conditional, you need to use one of the conditionals discussed above. もし is really a supplement to add a sense of uncertainty on whether the condition is true. For instance, you might use it when you want to make an invitation and you don’t want to presume like the following example.

1. もしよかったら、映画を観に行きますか？
   If by any chance it’s ok with you, go to watch movie?

2. もし時間がないなら、明日でもいいよ。
   If given that there’s no time, tomorrow is fine as well. (Not certain whether there is no time)