Japanese Grammar In Its Natural Habitat
Wild Nihongo!
~たら

~たら

~たら Japanese Grammar Lesson

Grammar Type: Conjunction

Essential Meaning: If / When / After

Construction: 

  • (Verb / い-Adjective / な-Adjective / Noun + Copula) informal nonpast + ら
    • E.g. 話はなしたら [If X speaks / When X speaks]
    • E.g. 高たかかったら [If X is expensive]
    • E.g. 静しずかだったら [If X is quiet]
    • E.g. 先生せんせいだったら [If X is a teacher]

Notes:

  • In the structure Sentence 1 たら Sentence 2, the dependent clause (Sentence 1) represents an antecedent, and the main clause (Sentence 2) represents a subsequence. In other words, Sentence 1 represents a state or action that precedes Sentence 2 temporally.
    • E.g. *私わたしはシカゴへ行いったらたいてい車くるまで行いきます。[When I go to Chicago, I usually go by car.] This sentence is incorrect because taking the bus and going to Chicago occur simultaneously and not sequentially. とき should be used instead.
    • E.g. *シカゴへ行いったらバスで行いきなさい。[If you go to Chicago, go by bus.] This sentence is incorrect for the same reason as above. なら would be an appropriate conjunction.
  • Often times, Sentence 1 たら Sentence 2 represents an if-then conditional (i.e. “If Sentence 1, then Sentence 2″).
    • E.g. 英語えいごだったらわかると思おもいます。 [If it’s in English, then I think I’ll understand it.]
  • When the situation is more certain (i.e. the situation in Sentence 1 definitely occurs or definitely will occur), the structure may be interpreted as “When Sentence 1, then Sentence 2“.
    • E.g. 12時じになったら、帰かえります。[When it turns 12, I’ll go home.] It wouldn’t sense to to interpret this sentence as an if-then conditional (i.e. “If it turns 12…“) since it will certainly turn 12 at some point.
  • With ~たら, もし can be placed at the beginning of Sentence 1 to give the structure an unambiguous “If…then” interpretation.
    • E.g. もしヤマダさんが来きたら私わたしは帰かえります。[If Yamada-san comes, then I will leave.] もし signals that the speaker is saying “If Yamada-san comes, I will leave” and NOT “When Yamada-san comes, I will leave.”
  • Sentence 1 たら Sentence 2 may also express a command, request, suggestion, invitation, or volitional statement.
    • E.g. Command: 仕事しごとが終おわったら僕ぼくのうちに来きなさい。[When work is over, come to my house.]
    • E.g. Request: 仕事しごとが早はやく終おわったら僕ぼくのうちに来きてください。[If you finish work early, please come to my house.]
    • E.g. Suggestion: 仕事しごとが早はやく終おわったら僕ぼくのうちに来きたらどうですか。 [If you finish work early, why don’t you come to my house?]
    • E.g. Invitation: 仕事しごとが早はやく終おわったらぼくのうちに来きませんか。[If you finish work early, would you like to come to my house?]
    • E.g. Volitional Statement: 仕事しごとが早はやく終おわったらおうちにおうかがいします。[If I finish work early, I’ll go to your house.]
  • Sentence 1 たら Sentence 2 may be used counterfactually to say “If X were the case, then Y“.
    • E.g. お金かねがあったらこんなうちにはいない。[If I had money, I wouldn’t be in a house like this.]
    • E.g. あの時ときお金かねがあったら日本にほんへ行いっていたでしょう。[If I had money at that time, I would have gone to Japan.]
  • When Sentence 1 たら Sentence 2 represents a past sequence of events, Sentence 2 can not express a deliberate action taken by the subject. Instead. it must express an accident, happenstance, natural consequence, et cetera.
    • E.g. 学校がっこうへ行いったら、ぐうぜん上田うえださんに会あった。[When I went to school, I happened to bump into Ueda-san.] This example is OK because meeting Ueda san occurred by happenstance.
    • E.g. *学校がっこうへ行いったら上田うえださんと話はなした。[When I went to school, I spoke with Ueda-san.] This sentence is not OK because the subject spoke to Ueda san deliberately.
    • E.g. お酒さけを飲のんだら寝ねてしまった。[I drank liquor, and then I accidentally fell asleep.] This sentence is OK because the subject fell asleep accidentally.
    • E.g. *お酒さけを飲のんだら寝ねた。[I drank liquor and then went to sleep.] This sentence is NOT ok since the subject slept purposefully.
  • Sentence 1 たら Sentence 2 is similar to other conditional structures such as ば, なら, and と (Natural Consequence), but they differ in the following ways:
    • (1) ~たら and と (Natural Consequence) can describe past events, but ば and なら can NOT.
      • E.g. 先生せんせいに聞きいたら / 聞きくと すぐ分わかった。[When I asked the teacher, I understood immediately.] ~たら and と (Natural Consequence) CAN be used with the past tense.
      • E.g. *先生せんせいに聞きけば / 聞きいたなら すぐ分わかった。[When I asked the teacher, I understood immediately.] ば and なら CAN’T be used with the past tense.
    • (2) ~たら, なら, and ば can be used with commands, requests, suggestions, invitations, or volitional statements, but と (Natural Consequence) can NOT.
      • E.g. 安やすかったら/ 安やすければ / 安やすいなら買かいなさい。[If it’s cheap, buy it.] This sentence is a command. ~たら, なら, and ば CAN be used with volitional sentences such as requests.
      • E.g. *安やすいと買かいなさい。[If it’s cheap, buy it.] This sentence is a command. と (Natural Consequence) CAN’T be used with volitional sentences such as commands.
    • (3) When used with commands, requests, suggestions, invitations, or volitional sentences, ~たら, なら, and ば have slightly different connotations. Namely, ~たら emphasizes the conditional SEQUENCE of events (i.e. “If / When X happens, Y happens“). なら also represents a conditional (i.e. “If X, Then Y“), but it does not imply that X occurs before Y. ば emphasizes the CONDITION (i.e. “Y will happen only under the condition that X happens first“).
      • E.g. べんがききたら、私わたしは帰かえります。[When / If Ben comes, I will go home.]
      • E.g. べんが来くれば、私わたしは帰かえります。 [If Ben Comes, I’ll go home. Otherwise, I’ll stay.]
      • E.g. べんが来くるなら、私わたしは帰かえります。[If it’s true that Ben is coming / came, I’ll go home.]
    • (4) ~たら, なら, and ば can be used counterfactually, but と (Natural Consequence) can NOT (except for the idiomatic expression といい / とよかった).
      • E.g. あの時ときお金かねがあったら / あれば / あったなら日本にほんに行いっていただろう。[If I had money at that time, I would have gone to Japan.]
      • E.g. *あの時ときお金かねがあると日本にほんに行いっていただろう。 [If I had money at that time, I would have gone to Japan.]

Example Sentences:

山田やまださんが来きたら私わたしは帰かえる。[If / When Yamada-san comes, I will go home.]

先生せんせいに聞きいたらすぐ分わかった。[When I asked my teacher, I understood immediately.]

私わたしは大学だいがくを出でたら小学しょうがくの先生せんせいになります。[When I graduate from university, I will become an elementary school teacher.]

私わたしは忙いそがしいですから、おもしろかったら読よみますが、おもしろくなかったら読よみませんよ。[Because I’m busy, if it’s interesting I’ll read it, but if it’s not interesting I won’t read it.]

嫌きらいだったら残のこしてください。[If you don’t like it, please leave it.]

英語えいごだったら分わかると思おもいます。[If it’s in English, I think I’ll understand.]

WILD Examples:

At 2:07. listen for the following: 釣つれたと思おもったらコイキング。[If you think you’ve caught a fish, it’s Koiking!]
Listen to this line at the very start of the song: 人間にんげんになれたら行いくんだ、ニューオーリンズ！ [When I’m able to to become a human, I’ll go to New Orleans!]
The opening line of this song goes as follows: すずめの兄弟きょうだいが電線でんせんで、大おおきくなったらなんになる？[Sparrow siblings on the telephone line…what will you become when you grow up?] ~たら is used repeatedly throughout this song.

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