Grammar Info

N4 Lesson 8: 1/18

たらWhen, From when, Just when, If

Structure

Verb［た］+ ら
［い］Adjective［た］+ ら
［な］Adjective + だった + ら
Noun + だった + ら

Details

  • Register

    Standard

About たら

The conjunction particle たら is used as a kind of 'halfway point' between 'if' and 'when' in Japanese. It expresses the completion of an (A) action, and then a (B) action that is considered to be the result of (A). It may be hypothetical, or it may be presenting a one-time result of something that happened in the past.

To use たら, it will replace た in the simple past form of verbs, い-Adjectives, な-Adjectives, and nouns.

Caution

Despite appearing to be the past form of the word that it is attached to, たら itself does not actually carry the nuance of 'past'. Other words in the sentence will need to be examined to see whether たら is truly highlighting something from the past, or simply the completion of something (which may or may not happen in the future).

Fun Fact

Although たら is regularly used to mean 'if', it almost always has a nuance of 'when'. This is due to たら specifically highlighting the following situations:

Completion: 完了(かんりょう) - Completion of (A).

Materialization: 成立(せいりつ) - Coming to fruition of (A).

These meanings are opposed to other 'if' structures like ば, and なら, which focus far more strongly on the hypothetical 'if' meaning.

Related

Examples

--:--

    勉強(べんきょう)したら、テストは簡単(かんたん)になる。

    When you study, the test will become easy. (if・from when)

    お茶(ちゃ)の味(あじ)が薄(うす)かったら、言(い)ってください。

    Please let me know when the tea is weak. (if・just when)

    もし食(た)べに行(い)きたかったら、行(い)こう。

    If/when you want to go out to eat, let's go! (from when)

    週末(しゅうまつ)だったら、時間(じかん)ありますよ。

    If/when it is the weekend, I have time. (from when・just when)

    辛(から)かったら、牛乳(ぎゅうにゅう)を飲(の)んでください。

    If it is spicy, please drink some milk. (from when・just when)

  • Get more example sentences!

    Premium users get access to 12 example sentences on all Grammar Points.

Self-Study Sentences

Study your own way!

Add sentences and study them alongside Bunpro sentences.

たら – Grammar Discussion

Join the Discussion