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"Clause A ば clause B" is a conditional statement "if A, then
B." |
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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) |
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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 |
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| 行く -> 行けば |
to go - if (you) go |
| iku - ikeba |
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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 |
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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. |
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kuruma-ga areba, iroiro-na tokoro-ni ikemasu. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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| 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. |
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This sentence structure usually implies that B is good.
Because of this AばB
is usually used to advise A. |
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Sometimes, the part "B" contains vacuous
generic expressions like |
| 大丈夫です |
It's OK. |
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daijoobu desu |
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| いいんです |
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| ii n desu |
That's good. |
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| 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. |
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| 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 |
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*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 |
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omoshiroi |
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| おもしろくない -> おもしろくなければ |
not interesting, not amusing |
| omoshiroku nai - omoshiroku nareba |
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| 元気じゃない -> 元気じゃなければ |
not healthy |
| genki ja nai - genki ja nakereba |
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学生じゃない -> 学生じゃなければ |
not a student |
| gakusei ja nai - gakusei ja nakereba |
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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 |
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shizuka da - shizuka nara / shizuka de areba |
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| 先生だ -> 先生なら 先生であれば |
teacher - if a teacher |
| sensei da - sensei nara / sensei de areba |
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* 5
You can express the idea in (ii) more
appropriately with tara: |
| 歩いたら、電車に遅れます。 |
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arui tara, densha-ni okuremasu. |
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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 |
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