The Conditional Form

The conditional form involves the direct conjugation of a verb, noun or adjective to make a sentence conditional. It is the equivalent of constructing a sentence in English that contains the word 'if'.

The conditional form is one of four ways to create conditional sentences in Japanese. The other three are using the the particle と, the nara-form and the tara-form.

These other forms each have embedded meanings and are used in particular circumstances. The conditional form however, does not have any embedded meanings. It is, in effect, the 'generalist' conditional and is applicable in a wide variety of situations.

Conjugating the Conditional Form

Verbs

For verbs, take the dictionary form and change the last syllable from its う-sound to its え-sound, and then attach ば.

Dictionary Form	Conditional Form
買う	買えば
待つ	待てば
飲む	飲めば
泳ぐ	泳げば
行く	行けば

I-Adjectives or Negatives Ending with ない

Remove the final い and add ければ.

I-Adjectives/Nai-Negatives	Conditional Form
楽しい	楽しければ
高い	高ければ
美味しくない	美味しくなければ
ない	なければ
食べない	食べなければ

Nouns and Na-Adjectives

Remove な and add であれば

Nouns/Na-Adjectives	Conditional Form
先生な	先生であれば
綺麗な	綺麗であれば

Restrictions on Using the Conditional Form

If you want to create a conditional sentence that includes a verb that is dependent on the action of the speaker, then you cannot use the conditional form.

The example below demonstrates the incorrect usage of the conditional form. The problematic section is in bold.

• 福岡に **行けば** 、ラーメンを食べたいです。
  If I go to Fukuoka, I want to eat ramen.

行けば is a verb which is dependent on the action of the speaker (the speaker decides whether they go or not) and so cannot be conjugated correctly into the conditional form.

Other action verbs include 飲む, 食べる, 歩く & 見る. If you want to construct conditional sentences with action verbs, it is better to use the tara-form.

Correct usage of the conditional form can be seen in the examples below:

Example Sentences

• いくつかまとめて買えば安い。
  If you buy in bulk, they will be cheaper.

• 私は今が楽しければそれでいい。
  If I have fun now, that will be fine.

• 体力を維持するにはちゃんと食べなければいけません。
  You must eat properly to keep up your strength.

• 金持ちであればいいのに。
  I wish I were rich.; lit. It would be good if I were rich.