Conditionals: と, ば, たら, なら
Four conditionals that are not interchangeable. と is the automatic consequence, the one of laws and machines: 春になると、桜が咲く. ば is the general, somewhat abstract condition, common in proverbs and advice: 安ければ買います. たら is the most versatile and the most spoken, serving for “if” and also for the “when” of something taken for granted: 家に帰ったら、電話します. なら picks up what the other person has just said: “if you say you're going to Kyoto…”, 京都に行くなら、新幹線がいいですよ. The practical rule: with と and ば you cannot request, order or invite in the second half; with たら you can.
Where this sits
- Comes after
- Dictionary form and plain style
Exercises from this rung
Generated by the app, from easiest to hardest
家に___、電話してください。
- 帰ったら
- 帰るなら
- 帰ると
- 帰れば
Why Only たら allows a request in the second half. With と or ば the sentence would be ungrammatical, and that practical rule settles half the doubts among the four conditionals.
easier京都に行く___、新幹線がいいですよ。
- なら
- ば
- と
- たら
Why なら picks up what the other person just said and answers it: “if it's the case that you're going…”. That is why the advice follows. With たら the sentence would mean “once you get to Kyoto”, which is something else.
in betweenボタンを押す___、ドアが開きます。
- たら
- なら
- ければ
- と
Why A machine always does the same: that is と. たら would be understood too, but it would sound like one particular occasion rather than the rule of the device. Japanese manuals are full of と.
harder