LEARN + JAPANESE / 62 of 186 JLPT N4
If That's the Case なら
You hear that the meeting has moved online, so you decide to join from home. なら takes a situation someone has just mentioned and says what follows if that is the case.
なら attaches after a noun, adjective, or plain verb form and means “if that’s the case, then.” Unlike other conditionals, it almost always responds to something the other person just said, picking it up and building an answer around it.
それなら is the same conversational move in a sentence connector: “if so / in that case.” It explicitly takes up the other person’s information before offering a response or next step.
If it's Saturday, I'll go.
Sorry, Saturday's a bit... Sunday would work though.
In that case, let's meet at the station.
Hint · 힌트
なら responds directly to a proposal already on the table, someone suggests Saturday, you counter with “if it’s Sunday, that works.” This makes it feel more like a live negotiation than a general hypothetical the way たら or ば can be.
If the shop turns out to be far, I won't go.
If you can't remember kanji, why not try using flashcards?
In Real Life
んなら, built on the explanatory ん you already know, is extremely common in casual speech, softening the condition into something closer to “given that’s the situation.” な-adjectives and nouns attach directly, no だ needed, 便利なら, 先生なら.
Vocabulary
| Japanese | English |
|---|---|
| far | |
| close, nearby | |
| flashcard | |
| next door, neighbor | |
| noisy, loud | |
| landlord | |
| to move house | |
| other | |
| to look up online | |
| to suggest, propose | |
| condition | |
| case, situation | |
| convenience, circumstances | |
| to change (something) | |
| to decide | |
| to consult, discuss | |
| to match, adjust to | |
| instead | |
| hope, wish | |
| to resolve |
YOUR PROGRESS
Finished this lesson?
Save your place in this course.