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Questions tagged [conditionals]

条件表現. Also known as if-then constructions. In Japanese conditionals are expressed with one of と, ～(れ)ば, ～たら, なら(ば).

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2 different ways to describe consecutive actions

名前書いたら帰る (I will write my name and I will go home) I was a bit confused because of the conditional たら, so I tried to made up a sentence to later ask a native speaker: シャワーを浴びたら公園に行く (I want to say: "I will take a shower and I will go to the…
kuonb
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Use of ら conditional form plus なら

I need some help with the grammar in this sentence: ボストンに居たらなら、何で会いに来なかったんだい。 I understand the conditional -たら form and the なら conditional alone. But I have not seen the two together. Does the sentence simply mean If you were in Boston why…
Robert
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Uncertain event + ならissue

I'm studying なら conditional form now and cannot understand the following: In a "Dictionary of basic japanese grammar" there is a note that s1ならs2 (s=sentence) could not be used when: 1) s1 never fails to occur; 2)one can never tell whether s1…
Vic Zhi
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Usage of conditional なら

Why is 建てる in the result clause in the past tense? The answer from What is the correct usage of conditional and hypothetical? indicates that it should not be in the past. もしも 私が家を建てたなら 小さな家を建てたでしょう
Nutkin
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と vs. たら for Past Tense Conditionals

When learning about the ~たら conditional, it was presented to me as a conditional which has at least some degree of uncertainty (in contrast with と conditionals). So I was surprised to see it being used in the past tense, like in the…
George
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English 2nd and 3rd conditional in Japanese

I have recently been trying to learn how to translate 2nd and 3rd conditional sentences accurately into Japanese, but didn't found a clear, detailed answer. By gathering different bits, it seems that 3rd conditional could be formed as in the…
Rafa
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Other uses of the たら conditional

Passing a verb to its past tense conjugation and adding ら makes the sentence a condition, right? Like 暇だったら、遊びに行くよ - If I'm free, I will go to play. But in the ももたろう tale the たら form is used differently in the sentence: ある日、 おばあさん が 川 で せんたく を…
Gabu
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What does conditional たら add to 未然形+う+とする?

Do the following sentences differ in meaning? I understand that conditional たら adds the meaning of simultaneous action, but does the meaning of the sentence really change without たら? 寝ようとした、電話が掛かってきた。I was about to go to bed, and the phone…
user1602
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ば conditional - combinations of action/state verb and same/different subject

The following sentences are ば conditional sentences, with combinations of action/state verb and same/different subjects. Which of these are correct / wrong, and why? Volition 1 Action verb + same subject (私が)卒業すれば、(私が)彼女と結婚するつもりです。 2 State verb…
rhyaeris
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Is the conditional form of a verb treated like a regular verb or a noun/na-adjective?

First of all thanks to everyone helping me out here, i'm already feeling some progress on the learning process, of course there’s a lot of room to improve, but sure it is nice to feel some progress every now and then ^^. Now to my question, I was…
Felipe Chaves de Oliveira
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"Begrudging Conditional"

How might you express a rude, begrudging permission in Japanese? I realize this is something you'd never encounter in practice or in public, but I'm writing a fictional story about some rather rude people so it's useful to know. Sentences I have in…
linkhyrule5
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How is this sentence "working" after として?

I came across the following sentence in a manga I was reading: 急いでるみたいだけど間に合ったとして赤点回避なんてできると思ってるの A boy is being accompanied by a group of girls and they are hurrying to school so they can make it in time for a mid term exam. While on their way to…
UCProgrammer
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What is the function of もし？

I know that もし translates to "if", but I dont know exactly when or how it should be used. I was reading Yoko Hasegawa's Japanese: a linguistic introduction. In the chapter on conditional clauses, some sentences begins with もし, others dont. Example:…
Zeyuan
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帰宅すれば、必ずお風呂に入りなさい。'When you get home, be absolutely sure to take a bath' Why is this an incorrect usage of ~Ba?

× 帰宅すれば、必ずお風呂に入りなさい。Why is this incorrect? Is it because it is non-volitional? takes out the decision aspect?
lois.e
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Can you explain this conversation?

(I cannot think of a good title for this question, sorry!) I was watching the anime 氷菓 episode 8. At the start of the episode, there was this online chat thingy going on: Basically, this person with the user name "L" made a few typos (like 取っ手も楽しみ)…
Sweeper
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