Lesson 53
Base 4 + reba
To be frank, at first I thought I wouldn't do this one because it's really not used that often. But then I decided to do it because there just might be parts of Japan where it's used more than in my neck of the woods. Base 4 +reba is used to express "if someone can":
- Watashi wa nihongo o yomereba ii. (It would be nice if I could read Japanese.)
- Shichiji ni ikereba Mark ni aeru. (If you can go at seven o'clock you'll be able to meet Mark.)
- Hachi jikan nerereba genki ni naru deshou. (If I can sleep eight hours I'll probably feel better.)
This form is mainly for yodans, but there are exceptions like the last example above.
The negative companion to this is Base 4 + nakereba (if someone can't), an example of which was included in the last lesson.
So, you may wonder, what do people use around here to express this? I usually hear Base 4 + tara, as in: Iketara iku yo. (I'll go if I can.) I have yet to find grammatical verification for this, but everyone uses it, so I do too.
Word Check
shichiji: seven o'clock
au: to meet; to see (someone)
jikan: hour(s); time
neru: to sleep
genki: healthy; energetic; (physically) well
...ni naru: to get or become (something [adjective or noun]) 1
(Verbs are shown in their plain form.)
Notes
1. ...ni naru means to become or change itself. You would never use it to "get" an object, like a present, but to "get well" (genki ni naru), to "get good at (something [like the piano])" (jouzu ni naru), etc.
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