~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. 話したら [If X speaks / When X speaks]
- E.g. 高かったら [If X is expensive]
- E.g. 静かだったら [If X is quiet]
- E.g. 先生だったら [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. *私はシカゴへ行ったらたいてい車で行きます。[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. *シカゴへ行ったらバスで行きなさい。[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. 英語だったらわかると思います。 [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時になったら、帰ります。[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たら私は帰ります。[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: 仕事が終わったら僕のうちに来なさい。[When work is over, come to my house.]
- E.g. Request: 仕事が早く終わったら僕のうちに来てください。[If you finish work early, please come to my house.]
- E.g. Suggestion: 仕事が早く終わったら僕のうちに来たらどうですか。 [If you finish work early, why don’t you come to my house?]
- E.g. Invitation: 仕事が早く終わったらぼくのうちに来ませんか。[If you finish work early, would you like to come to my house?]
- E.g. Volitional Statement: 仕事が早く終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. あの時お金があったら日本へ行っていたでしょう。[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. 学校へ行ったら、ぐうぜん上田さんに会った。[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. *学校へ行ったら上田さんと話した。[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. お酒を飲んだら寝てしまった。[I drank liquor, and then I accidentally fell asleep.] This sentence is OK because the subject fell asleep accidentally.
- E.g. *お酒を飲んだら寝た。[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. 先生に聞いたら / 聞くと すぐ分かった。[When I asked the teacher, I understood immediately.] ~たら and と (Natural Consequence) CAN be used with the past tense.
- E.g. *先生に聞けば / 聞いたなら すぐ分かった。[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. 安かったら/ 安ければ / 安いなら買いなさい。[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. *安いと買いなさい。[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. べんがきたら、私は帰ります。[When / If Ben comes, I will go home.]
- E.g. べんが来れば、私は帰ります。 [If Ben Comes, I’ll go home. Otherwise, I’ll stay.]
- E.g. べんが来るなら、私は帰ります。[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. あの時お金があったら / あれば / あったなら日本に行っていただろう。[If I had money at that time, I would have gone to Japan.]
- E.g. *あの時お金があると日本に行っていただろう。 [If I had money at that time, I would have gone to Japan.]
- (1) ~たら and と (Natural Consequence) can describe past events, but ば and なら can NOT.
Example Sentences:
山田さんが来たら私は帰る。[If / When Yamada-san comes, I will go home.]
先生に聞いたらすぐ分かった。[When I asked my teacher, I understood immediately.]
私は大学を出たら小学の先生になります。[When I graduate from university, I will become an elementary school teacher.]
私は忙しいですから、おもしろかったら読みますが、おもしろくなかったら読みませんよ。[Because I’m busy, if it’s interesting I’ll read it, but if it’s not interesting I won’t read it.]
嫌いだったら残してください。[If you don’t like it, please leave it.]
英語だったら分かると思います。[If it’s in English, I think I’ll understand.]
WILD Examples:
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