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(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」.
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」.
(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.
アリス) 図書館はどこですか。
- Where is the library?
ボブ) 図書館なら、あそこです。
- If given that you're talking about the library, then it's over there.
The following is incorrect.
(誤) 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.
(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.
(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, if you must insist, I searched around the web for an explanation of the difference that I can agree with. Here is the original text. Basically, 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.
(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.
(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.
(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)
This page has last been revised on 2006/9/14