Guide To Learn Japanese

Previously we learn how to change verbs into a -ba form, but was not fully covered. In today’s post, we shall learn how to change adjectives and -taiたい form into the -baば or -taraたら form. By changing adjectives and -taiたい form into the -ba or -taraたらform, you can make an assumption of a statement. First, lets take a look at how we can change the iい and naな adjectives into a -baば -taraたら form

い Adjective	-ば form	-たら form
あついhot, warm	あつければ	あつかったら
さむいcold(weather)	さむければ	さむかったら
ねむいsleepy	ねむければ	ねむかったら
ほしいwant	ほしければ	ほしかったら
-ない (negative form)	なければ	なかったら
-たい (want form)	たければ	たかったら

As you can see from あつい, to change into the -baば form, the い is drop and the replace with the ければ. This rule is apply to all iい adjectives including the -tai and -nai form. While for the -taraたら form, the adjective is first changed into the -ta form then add the ra　ら after it. You might be wondering what is the difference between using -ba and -tara form. We shall get to that at the end of this post.

Now for the な adjectives

な Adjective	-ば form	-たら form
きれい pretty,clean	きれい　であれば	きれい だったら
かんたん easy, simple	かんたん であれば	かんたん だったら
べんり convenient	べんり であれば	べんり だったら
しあわせ　happy	しあわせ であれば	しあわせ だったら

For naな adjectives, its much easier to change it. For -ba form, just simply add であれば after the word and for -tara form, just add だったら after it.

So what is the difference between using the -baば form and the -taraたら form? There is almost no difference to it. The Japanese just use it when they feel appropriate. But wait…of course there is a slight difference to it. Think of the the -ba ば form as “if”, a hypothesis. And think of the -tara たら form as a “when”. Example below.

-ba ば form

ねむければ、コーヒー　を　のんで　ください - If you are sleepy, please drink coffee.

-tara たら form

ねむかったら、コーヒー　を　のんで　ください - When you are sleepy, please drink coffee.

Adding a もし to change it into a real hypothetical sentence

もし ねむかったら、コーヒー　を　のんで　ください - If you are sleepy, please drink coffee.

If you want to add もし in your sentence, be sure to add it only with the -tara form. Just part of the rules

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Related Posts

• How to use “when” in Japanese or -tara form
• Changing Japanese Adjectives to the Negative nai form
• Learn how to Connect and Identify the two types of Japanese Adjectives
• Learn how to change adjectives to past tense in Japanese
• Learn to Use the -naru Verb with an Adjective or Noun to Express Changes in an Object

Filed under: Intermediate Guide |