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conditional forms

tanhql

日本語の学生
3 Jun 2006
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i always thought that ければ is used with i-adjective, and なら with everything else, and that both mean the same thing. but that website said it's not. can anyone care to explain?

thanks.
 
Usually 'nara' is a good one to use, but might make your speech sound more formal than you might've intended to. There are some restrictions as to when you can use 'kereba', and when you can use 'tara' etc. This is why the conditionals are harder than they might seem. But nowadays most native speakers are not really differentiating them much anyway.
 
i always thought that ければ is used with i-adjective, and なら with everything else, and that both mean the same thing. but that website said it's not. can anyone care to explain?
thanks.
1. ば form when used with i-adj or nai form
it will be ければ, ->飲まない+ければ=飲まなければ
2. If it is a regular verb it will be the usual ば form
conjugation 飲めば
3.It cannot be used with na-adj and noun
4.naraba is broader; don't have the restriction in 3.

Pardon me, but
I think the explanation there confuses more than it convinces.
 
Last edited:
nara is easier to use because you just tack it after the verb, adjective or noun. It does not quite mean the same thing as the ~ば form, but it's close enough.
 
i've also heard that there's a ならば which is 'derived' from なら. is that true? if so, why is it i hear なれば on japanese tv shows instead of ならば?
 
This is what I understand:
1) The ば conditional is usually used when there's a positive outcome. If I study hard I'll do well.

2) The と conditional is used when there's a natural response that can't be helped. I.e. if you turn that corner, you'll find the store. It cannot be helped that if you turn the corner you'll find the store. If you press that button, the computer will turn on.

3) The たら conditional can be used any time, can also mean "when" as in "if/when".

4) なら is used when the speaker is guessing the truth. Can translate to "if it's true that x, then x"
 
ならば is just a more formal/literary version of なら. なれば is the ~ば form of なる
 
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