Grammar Lesson: ば form (The Provisional)
I just hit 300 followers!! Thank you so much to all my followers and I’m glad I could get this out just in time for that!
So this is what I’ve been doing all week. If the て form is the first circle of hell of Japanese learning, ば, たら, と, and なら are the next four circles like together all at once. In an effort to help me and help you, I’m going to explain this ridiculous grammar the best I can.
Resources:
Japanese the Spoken Language Pt 3
日本語の森 (see links later on)
Conjugation ・活用
一段 Verb
Add れば to the stem
例：食べる ⇒ 食べれば
五段 Verb
Change the last letter in the dictionary form to the え version and add ば
例：飲む ⇒ 飲めば
焼く ⇒ 焼けば
ふきそく Verbs
Memorize the following
する ⇒ すれば
来る ⇒ くれば
い adjectives ・ ない form (Adjectivals)
Drop い and add ければ
例：寒い ⇒ 寒ければ
寒くない ⇒ 寒くなければ
Nouns ・ な adjectives(nominals)
Instead of だ use なら. Add ならば to be more formal.
例：本棚 ⇒ 本棚なら
不便な ⇒ 不便なら
How to Use ・ 使い方
So basically ば translates to “What If.” I used to always think that my high school Japanese teacher used “what if” incorrectly but given the way it works in Japanese it makes a ton of sense..
The best explanation I got for these actually came from two 日本語の森 videos: VS 文法 #15 and #16 and this example video .
To preface this, there are basically five types if/when situations that you can use all four different grammars for
仮定: Hypothetical (What if)
結果: Result (If this, then this)
習慣: Habit (When)
意外: Unexpected (When, but)
未来: Future (When)
This is kind of weird and complicated, so if you are N3 or up I suggest you watch the videos first because it will help. Basically, ば can only be used for the first two and たら can be used for all of them.
ば usually marks a hypothetical situation: something that hasn’t happened yet, but if it did, you know the outcome.
もっとお金があればiPhoneXを買った。
If I had more money, I would have gotten the iPhone X.
That’s a hypothetical situation. My high school Japanese teacher would have said, “What if, I had more money, and then I would have bought the iPhone X.” I don’t know if that makes sense so here’s another one.
値段が安ければよく売れます。
If the price is cheap, I can definitely buy it.
I stole this right from one of the videos but basically, as she says, you don’t know if the price is low, but in the hypothetical case that it is, you will totally buy it. “What if it was cheap and then I could purchase it.”
The second one is 結果 a result you are guaranteed will happen but NOT a habit that always happens.
この薬を飲めば、元気になる。
If you take this medicine, you’ll get better.
This is kind of weird but basically it’s like also a hypothetical. “What if you take this medicine, then you will feel better.”
I’m not gonna explain all o them but if you would like to learn more you should go watch the 日本語の森 videos because they will save your life. I hope this helped someone!!!