Structure
もし + Phrase[たら](1)
(1) Phrase[ば]、Phrase[と]、Phrase[ても]
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Standard
About もし
もし is an adverb used to emphasize the nuance of 'if', with expressions like と, ば, なら, たら, and ても. Literally, the meaning of もし is close to 'while slight', or 'while small'.
To use もし, simply add it to the beginning of any phrase that uses one of the conditional expressions listed above.
Fun Fact
もし is sometimes seen written as 若し, a kanji which has the meaning of 'low in (A)', (also seen in the word 若い 'young'). It is from this kanji that もし gets its meaning of 'while low in (probability, number, age, experience)'.
Related
Examples
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もし雨が降ったら、車で行く。
If it rains, I will go by car.
もし辛いものだったら、食べられない。
If it is spicy, I can't eat it.
もしコーヒーを買ってくれたら、嬉しい。
If you bought coffee for me, I would be happy.
もしこのパソコンを彼女にあげるなら、説明書も渡してね。
If you are going to give this computer to her, (make sure to) give her the manual too.
もし君が文法を勉強したら、日本語を喋れるようになるでしょう。
If you study grammar, you will become able to speak Japanese, right?
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Online
Conditionals in Japanese
Tae Kim
The Adverb もし
Imabi
もし + たら・なら
Renshuu
Offline
Tae Kim's Japanese Grammar Guide
Page 139
みんなの日本語 I
Page 159 [CH 25]
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もし – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (2 in total)
RadicalC
What im still wondering is, the difference between たとえ and もし when using ても.
もし雨が降ってもいく
(on the small chance that) if it rains, (even despite that), ill (still) go
たとえ雨が降ってもいく
(supposing it) rains, (even despite that), ill (still) goもし高くても買う on the small chance its expensive, even despite that, ill buy it
たとえ高くても買う supposing that its expensive, even despite that, ill buy itSeems I should be focusing on the Adverbs meaning/nuance
John-Bunpro
Hey, thanks for the thoughtful question!
In this case, I think the best way to think about it is that the fundamental meaning is unchanged (and technically, the fundamental meaning would not change even if it were just 雨が降っても行く, without either もし or たとえ), but もし and たとえ just add slightly different nuances.
もし simply emphasizes the hypothetical nature of the statement or situation (kind of ‘signalling’ from the start of the sentence that a hypothetical is coming).
In contrast, たとえ puts additional focus on the contrastive nature of the statement, that is to say it gives it even stronger sense of even if that happens…It’s a subtle distinction (and again, neither もし nor たとえ significantly changes the underlying meaning of the sentence), but these are words that can be used to give language more nuance.
Does that help clear things up at all?
Feel free to follow up if you have any lingering questions or concerns!
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