How to choose between と, ば, たら and なら in Japanese

Level B2

How to choose between と, ば, たら and なら in Japanese

Your Saturday plan depends on the weather, the bus and the train. To talk it through, you need to say what usually happens, what a choice leads to, what you'd do if something goes wrong and what you think of the idea on the table. Japanese has four forms for this: と, ば, たら and なら. In this lesson you learn to use と and to choose among the four by asking how the two parts of the sentence are linked.

New words: と and being late

This と is neither the と of “and” (電車とバス, train and bus) nor the と before 言います (to say). It joins two events: when the first happens, the second follows. The list translates it as “whenever”, which is only an approximation. 遅れる (okureru) means “to be late”, for a bus, a train or a person. よく (yoku) means “often” here, and 出る (deru) means “to leave”, as when you set off from home in the morning. ボタン (botan) is “button”, 押す (osu) “to press”, 手 (te) “hand” and 洗う (arau) “to wash”.

Review: three conditions and two degrees of certainty

You will need five things you have already seen. たら says what comes after something happens: 雨が降ったら (ame ga futtara, if it rains). ば says what a condition leads to: 電車で行けば (densha de ikeba, if you go by train). なら picks up what has just been said and reacts to it: 魚なら (sakana nara, if it's fish). はずです (hazu desu) says what you expect, on some grounds: 来るはずです (should be coming). かもしれません (kamoshiremasen) says something is possible: 雨が降るかもしれません (it might rain). Say these sentences aloud before you go on.

Model: a day at the beach, with rain forecast

Listen once without reading. Two colleagues are planning a Saturday at the beach, and rain is forecast. Then look for the four forms. 海に行くなら takes the plan just mentioned and gives advice. 雨が降ると says what tends to happen when it rains. 電車で行けば and 八時に出れば say what a choice leads to. 遅れたら looks at one thing that may go wrong and proposes what to do about it.

雨が降るそうです (ame ga furu sō desu) means “I hear it's going to rain”. 何時 (nanji) is “what time”, 八時 (hachiji) “eight o'clock” and 九時 (kuji) “nine o'clock”. 駅の前の (eki no mae no) means “in front of the station”, カフェ (kafe) “café”, 待ちましょう (machimashō) “let's wait” and じゃあ (jā) “then”.

と: what follows as a rule

と presents the second event as what follows from the first as a matter of course. It is not a plan for one occasion but the way things go. In these sentences that means a repeated pattern (雨が降ると、バスはよく遅れます), how a device works (このボタンを押すと、ドアが開きます), what you find along a route (この通りをまっすぐ行くと、海があります), what a place is generally like (日曜日の朝に行くと、公園は静かです) or a habit (家に帰ると、手を洗う).

Here と comes after the dictionary form: 降ると, 押すと, 行くと, 帰ると. That part stays the same in polite speech and among friends, and the end of the sentence sets the tone: 開きます, 洗う. Words to know: ドア (doa, door), 開く (aku, to open), 通り (tōri, street), まっすぐ (massugu, straight on), 朝 (asa, morning), 公園 (kōen, park), 静か (shizuka, quiet) and 帰る (kaeru, to go home). と has other uses, which this lesson leaves aside.

降る／押す／行くと、…

Plans and requests: why と does not fit

Because と describes what happens, the second part is normally not a request, a suggestion or a decision for one occasion. 雨が降ると、カフェに行きましょう does not sound natural. To propose or ask here, swap と for たら: 雨が降ったら、カフェに行きましょう. The button shows the same split: このボタンを押すと、ドアが開きます describes the mechanism, while このボタンを押したら、ここで待ってください asks for something. ここで待ってください (koko de matte kudasai) means “please wait here”.

One more contrast: 雨が降ると、カフェに行きます is correct, but it means a habit, “every time it rains, I go to a café”. To state your plan for this time, say 雨が降ったら、カフェに行きます.

One trip, four links

All four sentences start from 海に行く, and each links the second part differently. 海に行くと… says what happens each time. 海に行けば… says what you get if the condition is met. 海に行ったら… says what to do once it has happened. 海に行くなら… takes the trip as given and comments on it. いつも (itsumo) means “always”. Don't choose by the translation: “if” or “when” can render any of the four.

To choose, look at the second part and ask what it is. Something that follows as a rule: と. What a condition leads to: ば. What comes after one particular event, such as a plan or a request: たら. A reaction to something already on the table: なら. With a one-off action by the same person, such as 行く, ば sounds odd before a request, hence 海に行ったら、魚を食べてください. This question guides you through these examples, but it is not a complete rule.

When more than one form fits

The forms overlap. All three train sentences are correct and say nearly the same thing: 行けば stresses what that choice gets you, 行ったら says what comes after it, and 行くと presents it as a plain fact about the trip. 行くなら would fit once someone had just said they were going by train.

Overlap does not mean they are always interchangeable. In 海に行くなら、駅で水を買ってください, you buy the water first, at the station, before the trip. In 海に行ったら、水を買ってください, you buy it once you are there. Even without 駅で, the form decides: with なら you buy it before you go, with たら after you arrive. There are more limits than this lesson shows, so with a new sentence, ask how the two parts are linked and which one happens first.

The end of the sentence says how sure you are

The condition and your certainty are two separate choices: the first part sets up the hypothesis, and the end of the sentence says how sure you are. 八時に出れば、九時に着くはずです says you expect it, on some grounds, such as a timetable. The same start with かもしれません says it is possible, but you aren't counting on it. 雨が降ったら、電車も遅れるかもしれません names a possible consequence; も (mo) means “too”. 雨が降ると、バスはよく遅れます rests on what you have seen happen, and よく says “often”, not every time.

These endings are not fixed percentages. They differ in what you base your statement on.

Your turn, and the summary

A colleague tells you 来週、公園に行くつもりです (next week I plan to go to the park). Cover the sentences below. You will say four things, and the form is your choice: react to their plan by recommending the bus; say what that choice leads to, that by bus they should get there in an hour, ending in はず; say what the park is generally like on a Monday; and suggest going on Sunday if it rains. For each one, ask what the second part is doing, say the sentence, and only then check. 月曜日 (getsuyōbi) means “Monday”, and 日曜日 (nichiyōbi) “Sunday”.

In short: と for what follows as a rule, ば for what a condition leads to, たら for what comes after one event, なら to react to what is on the table. More than one form often fits, but they are not always interchangeable, and the end of the sentence says how sure you are.

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