Lesson 35
Base 3 + nara
This is one of several ways to make conditional sentences — sentences with "if." We have already covered negative conditionals in Lesson 20. Now let's use nara to make some positive ones:
- Isogu nara, tsugi no densha ni noru koto ga dekiru yo. (If we hurry we'll be able to make the next train.)
- Dekakeru nara, kasa o motte ikinasai. (If you go out, take an umbrella.)
- Ame ga furu nara, shiai o enki shinakereba naranai. (If it rains we'll have to put off the game.)
- Tabako o suu nara, soto de suinasai. (If you're going to smoke, do it outside.)
- Kodomotachi wa ima sunakku o taberu nara, yuushoku o tabenai deshou. (If the kids eat a snack now, they probably won't eat dinner.)
Sooner or later you will run into naraba, which is just a slight variation. They are used the same way and mean the same thing, but nara is more common.
Word Check
isogu: to hurry
tsugi: next
densha: train
noru: to ride
dekakeru: to go out
kasa: umbrella
motte iku: to take (te form of motsu [to hold] + iku [to go])
shiai: (a sports) game, match
enki suru: to postpone, put off
tabako o suu: to smoke (tabako: cigarette, with suu: to suck, inhale) 1
soto: outside
ima: now
sunakku: snack (This is wasei eigo, Japanese English.)
yuushoku: dinner
(Verbs are shown in their plain form.)
Notes
1. The Japanese tabako naturally comes from "tobacco," but in Japanese it means "cigarette." This is also wasei eigo.
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