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Languages Study | Languages of the East | Japanese III
Grammar II - 22.03 Grammar L4 - 010 Menu - Grammar
～ば ~ba
"Clause A ば clause B" is a conditional statement "if A, then B."

We have already seen an instance of this construction in Lesson 18, namely,
the ba-form in the pattern ba yokatta (I wish I had done . . . ).

Let us first review the conjugation rule of the verb ba-form. (* 4)
  Verbs in the affirmative:　Drop the final -u and add -eba.
食べる -> 食べれば

to eat - if (I) eat
taberu - tabereba  
行く -> 行けば to go - if (you) go
iku - ikeba  
  Verbs in the negative: Drop the final i and add kereba
行かない -> 行かなければ not to go - if do not go
ikanai - ikanakereba  
   

In a "AばB" sentence, the "A" part describes the condition,
provided which the consequence described in "B" will follow.
車があれば、いろいろな所に行けます。

If you have a car, you can go to various places.

kuruma-ga areba, iroiro-na tokoro-ni ikemasu.

  
かぎをかけてあれば、
どろぼうに入られません。		 If you lock the doors and windows,
you won't have your apartment broken into. 
kagi-o kakete areba,
doroboo-ni hairaremasen.		  
大家さんに言わなければ、
わかりませんよ。		 If you do not tell the landlord,
he will never find that out. 
ooya-san-ni iwanakereba,
wakarimasen yo.		  
   
 

You usually use the "A ば B" pattern when the condition "A" guarantees a good result in "B."
Therefore, the sentence (i) below is natural, while the sentence (ii), though not impossible, sounds rather odd.
走れば、電車に間に合います。 (i) If I run, I will be able to catch the train.
hashireba, densha-ni ma-ni aimasu.  
遅い 歩けば、電車に遅れます。 (ii) If I walk, I will be late for the train.
osoi arukeba, densha-ni okuremasu.  
 
 

This sentence structure usually implies that B is good.
Because of this AばB is usually used to advise A.
Sometimes, the part "B" contains vacuous generic expressions like
大丈夫です It's OK.

daijoobu desu

  
いいんです  
ii n desu That's good.
   
この薬を飲めば大丈夫です。  You will be okay, if you take this medicine.
kono kusuri-o nomeba - daijoobu desu.  
先生に聞けばいいんです。  All you have to do is ask the teacher. (If you ask, everything will be fine.)
sensei-ni kikeba - ii n desu  
 

*4

We will focus on the verb ba-form in this lesson,
but ba also goes with i-adjectives and negative predicates in general:
面白い　->　おもしろければ interesting, amusing

omoshiroi

  
おもしろくない　->　おもしろくなければ not interesting, not amusing
omoshiroku nai - omoshiroku nareba  
元気じゃない　->　元気じゃなければ not healthy
genki ja nai - genki ja nakereba  

学生じゃない　->　学生じゃなければ

 not a student
gakusei ja nai - gakusei ja nakereba  
   
With na-adjectives and nouns in the affirmative, da either becomes nara (see Lesson 13) or de areba
静かだ　->　静かなら　静かであれば quiet, peaceful - if quiet, if peaceful

shizuka da - shizuka nara / shizuka de areba

  
先生だ　->　先生なら　先生であれば teacher - if a teacher
sensei da - sensei nara / sensei de areba  
   

 * 5

You can express the idea in (ii) more appropriately with tara:

歩いたら、電車に遅れます。  

arui tara, densha-ni okuremasu.

  
You may also note that (ii) is not totally ungrammatical.
Embedded in a larger sentence that overtly cancels the "good result" implication, for example,
(ii) improves significantly in acceptability:
歩けば電車に遅れるのは
わかっていました。

I knew that I would be late for the train if I walked.
arukeba, densha-ni okureru-no-wa,
wakatte-imashita