nihongo wo benkyou shitai

日本語：	[A verb (base 4)] ば [B]
日本語：	[adjective] ければ / なら [B]
日本語：	[noun] なら [B]
English:	If only [A] then [B]

For the JLPT3 we need to know four conditionals: たら, なら, ーえば and と. There are others but it will only complicate matters to think about them now, especially as the four mentioned have pretty specific usage restrictions. But before you read any further, you really should read this first!

The えば conditional most closely resembles what we English would consider if to mean. In English, we would see the basic construct as:

if [clause A] then [clause B]

However, it should be noted that えば is used when there is no indication as to whether the event in clause A is likely to occur or not. As such it is frequently seen when talking about hypothetical situations and in effect, can be thought of as saying 'if the event in clause A were to come about then situation in clause B is possible'. For example:

If I won the lottery, it would be cool
If it isn't cloudy tonight, we may see the stars

Also, as discussed in the overview of conditionals, えば places the focus on the condition, not the outcome. Finally, with えば there is a likelihood that the speaker is considering the opposite statement, even if this is not vocalised. So, we could view the second example sentence above as:

If it isn't cloudy tonight, we may see the stars [but if it is, we won't]

In terms of conjugation, ば is fairly easy to use. Verbs should be in base 4. With い-adjectives, drop the い and add ければ; な-adjectives and nouns add なら. As usual, verbs in the negative are treated as い-adjectives.

NOTE: I should mention here that I have read that there are restrictions on what kind of verb conjugation can occur in the main clause (that is clause B). Originally I wrote that: in most cases, clause B cannot be statement indicating a command, suggestion, prohibition or permission. The exception to this is where clause A is an い adjective, ends in the verbs ある or いる or is a verb in plain negative form. In these cases, suggestions can be used. . However, I can find no reference to this in any of my text books. Can anyone tell me if such restrictions exist?

English:	If it isn't cloudy tonight, we may see the stars.
Jenglish:	[tonight][cloudy + not + if], [stars][see + ability + maybe]
日本語：	今夜曇っていれば星を見られるかもしれない。

English:	It would be good if it stops raining.
Jenglish:	[rain][stop + if][good]
日本語：	雨がやめばいいです。

Lets see how this is used with some examples from the Internet!

Example 1:

This one is taken from a particularly geeky-looking site. Right up my street!

日本語：	もしかして洗えば直るっていう話は僕が知らなかっただけで、その筋では結構一般的なのか。
Jenglish:	[possibly] [wash + if] [fix] [quote] [to say] [conversation] [TM] [I] [SM] [didn't know] [only], [that] [plan] [well then] [tolerably] [typical] [casual male question]

Uh? Totally lost on this from the beginning. For a start, っていう話 isn't very clear. I know that っていう is a colloquial form of という which I know as meaning called. Also, the use of だけ seems odd. Then, we have words that simply don't seem to fit, for example: 結構.

So, embarrassing as it is, this is my translation: As for the conversation regarding how you might fix your computer if you wash it, is the plan typical?

Example 2:

Hopefully this example taken from here will be simpler.

日本語：	小沢さんは小泉さんをほめればいい。
Jenglish:	[Mr Kosawa] [TM] [Mr Koizumi] [OM] [to speak well + if] [good]

Well, I think this may be a reasonably simple one. The hardest part was translating the names. I kinda guess Koizumi from the 'zumi' part; 'Kosawa' is a guess also. So, I think this means It would be good if Mr Kosawa spoke well of Mr Koizumi..


Example 3:

Well, as depressing as trying to translate the first example was, let's try another geeky web site.

日本語：	XMLの基礎を理解しよう～これだけ知っていれば大丈夫～。
Jenglish:	[XML] [PM] [foundation] [OM] [understanding + do + lets] [so little] [to know + if] [OK]

Looks pretty uncomplicated, but I've chosen a couple of different translations to make it sound more natural: Let's understand the basics of XML - it's OK if you know nothing.

またね・・・