Conditionals

There are four ways to conveying “if” in Japanese

Method	Description	Example
と (natural consequences)	When one thing is a consequence of another	夜になると、空気が冷たくなる
	In storytelling, to mean “Upon (doing something)“	朝起きると、妻はいなかった
	If the condition is something that is consciously chosen, followed by といい, it’s a suggestion to do something	わからないことがるときは、あの先生に聞くといいよ

と is use for natural consequences.
It is preceded by a plain / dictionary form (e.g. 書くと) unless you’re working in the service industry and talking to a customer (then it’ll be 書きますと)
Can be negative, but must be always in the present tense
Can also be used for something that always/usually happen to someone in particular. E.g.
- 牛乳を飲むとお腹が痛くなる
- Or something you believe to be true, even though it hasn’t or has never happened
  - ピーナッツを食べると、死んじゃう
とき puts more emphasis on the literal time when something happens. e.g.
- 歩いている時、母から電話が来た (When I was walking, my mom called)
- There’s no inherent relation between the two clauses
A strange usage in storytelling: to mean something surprising happened
- <plain present tense> と、<past tense>
- ランプを擦ると、ジーニーが現れました

たら

covers same usage as と but implies lesser certainty, or that something isn’t a known fact
- akin to “when” is used for stating a fact, and “if” for postulating (I think) what might happen
This is connected by time or logically
- Given Aたら、B implies that A must happen before B, or that A causes B
- It has a strict ordering rule from A → B
uses the past tense + たら
when directed towards a listener, と may also imply that you assume the listener is going to do something
- 食べすぎると、太っちゃう (I’m assuming you’ll eat too much, and you’ll DEFINITELY get fat)
たら can also mean “when”, when followed by a past tense to imply a fact
- 食べすぎたら、ふとちゃった

Aなら,B means
- if A were to happen, B must occur first - If you were to do something because someone said so
Use this when you are provided context on something ("given some context")
- e.g. 明日雨が降るなら、ピクニック行かないほうがいい (Given that it’ll will rain tomorrow (because I heard / know of it somewhere), …)
- vs. 明日雨が降ったら、ピクニック行かないほうがいい (If it rains tomorrow, …)
Used with a noun to contrast succinctly
- e.g.
  - 緑茶がありません。でも、ほじちゃはあります
  - There is not green tea, but there is hojicha
  - 保持茶ならあります is a more succinct version (Bなら…)
- ミサなら出来る: Misa can do it (but not others)
- 5分なら話せます: I can speak for 5 minutes (but not longer)

たら puts more emphasis on the result, while ば emphasises the precondition
ば can be used as a formal version of たら but not with a past tense follow-up clause
All verbs conjugate by changing “u” to “eba”, regardless of their usual conjugation patterns
- Negatives changes like i-adjectives 👇
i-adjectives can be used
- replace ーい with ーければ
na-adj and nouns tend to sound formal with ば
- Add であれば (very official) or ならば (only in writing)
- Instead, usually だったら is used instead
Usually used with a positive outcome
Sometimes imply that the precondition is hard to achieve (or as an exaggeration)
- 羽があれば、飛びる: IF ONLY I had wings…
Used when giving advice (to imply that it’s the only way)
- or asking for advice (どうすれば、日本語が上手になりますか。)
To express regret or shame
- テストの前に、勉強すれば良かった
- Still implies a good outcome

Emphasizes a hypothetical situation, but m　ust be used with なら、たら or ば。

It cannot be used with と。

It can help to soften the message. Imagine the following sentence without もし: もし妊娠していたら、。。。

It would be shocking to hear the word “pregnant” first