How to say “if” in Japanese

This whole section is dedicated to learning how to say “if” in Japanese. Oh, if only it was as simple as English. In Japanese, there’s four (count them, four) ways to say “if”! Thankfully, the conjugations are sparse and easy especially since you don’t have to deal with tenses.

Expressing natural consequence using 「と」

Vocabulary

ボール – 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.

Rules for using the conditional 「と」 Attach 「と」 to the condition followed by the result that would occur should the condition be satisfied

= [Condition] + と + [Result] State-of-being must be made explicit

= [State-of-being] + だ と + [Result]

Examples

を と 。

If you drop the ball, it will fall. を と 。

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.

に と と よ。

If you don’t go to school, you can’t meet your friends. と よ。

If you eat a lot, you will get fat, for sure. だと、 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」.

Contextual conditionals using 「なら（ば）」

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」.

Rules for using the contextual conditional 「なら」 Attach 「なら」 to the context in which the conditional would occur

= [Assumed Context] + なら + [Result] You must not attach the declarative 「だ」.

Examples

が なら も 。

If given that everybody is going, then I’ll go too. アリス が なら よ。

If given that Alice-san says so, there’s no problem.

Example Dialogue

アリス： は ですか。

Alice: Where is the library?

ボブ： なら、 です。

Bob: If given that you’re talking about the library, then it’s over there.

The following is incorrect.

だ なら 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.

General conditionals using 「ば」

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.

Conjugation Rules for 「ば」 For verbs: Change the last /u/ vowel sound to the equivalent /e/ vowel sound and attach 「ば」

Examples → → → →

Change the last /u/ vowel sound to the equivalent /e/ vowel sound and attach 「ば」 Examples For i-adjectives or negatives ending in 「ない」: Drop the last 「い」 and attach 「ければ」.

Examples → →

Drop the last 「い」 and attach 「ければ」. Examples For nouns and na-adjectives: Attach 「であれば」

Examples 学生 → 学生であれば 暇 → 暇であれば

Attach 「であれば」 Examples

Examples

に 、 に 。

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

If I had money, it would be good, huh? 、 も 。

If it’s fun, I’ll go too. 、 も 。

If it’s not fun, I’ll also not go. に よ。

If you don’t eat, you will become sick.

Past conditional using 「たら（ば）」

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】 – 1) one’s own home; 2) 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 – 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.

Conjugation Rule for 「たら（ば）」 First change the noun, adjective, or verb to its past tense and attach 「ら」

Examples → だった → だったら → → → → → →

Examples

Examples

だったら、 に よ。

If I am free, I will go play. だったら、 で 。

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： に 、 に 。

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

Ｂ： に 、 に 。

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

Example 2

Ａ： が ね。

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

Ｂ： が ね。

B: 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.

に 、 。

When I went home, there was no one there. (unexpected result) に 、 。

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.

How does 「 」 fit into all of this?

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 「 」 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. 「 」 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.