Learning the ば Ba form – If I study, I will pass JLPT. – もし~れば

“If someone does something” Provisional form in Japanese with ば Ba 

Hey you lovely lot, welcome to another fantastic online Japanese lesson from BondLingo. Today we are going to be looking at the conditional form ば Ba to express “if someone does something”. We are going to be breaking todays lesson down into the following sections:

1. We will first learn about the grammar, what it means and how to form moshi – reba sentences 
2. We are going to then look at some example sentences so you can learn through examples and get much more used to the grammar 
3. We will then explore a fantastic study technique to give you the tools to master todays grammar point efficiently 
4. We will finish with a bitesize summary to ensure you have everything you need to know from today’s lesson

So get your notebooks ready and your thinking caps on because we are about to go on a Japanese learning adventure. Let’s jump right in and learn about how to form the grammar

What is the ば form and how to form もし~れば sentences 

A fundamental understanding of the grammar and the various conjugations

ば and たら both express “IF” in a conditional form and can be used sometime interchangeably. However the main difference is that with ば the condition is the focus of the sentence. It could be seen to represent “ As long as” its a provisional.

 Moshi もし itself is not actually necessary to use within the sentence and can be dropped if necessary. もし is always used at the beginning of the sentence and is used when you really want to emphasise that “IF”.

Now moshi is easy to use as you just need to add it to the beginning of a conditional sentence but れば　 is a little harder to use. 

To create the Ba form we need to look at each of the 3 Japanese verb groups. 

る Verbs	Change ending u to e and add ba	飲む　飲めば	Nomu – Nomeba
する　くる Verbs	No set rule just remember	するーすればくるーくれば	Suru – surebaKuru – kureba

Here is an example sentence 

“As long as I study, I will pass the exam” 
もし、勉強すれば、出来ます。
もし、べんきょうすれば　ごうかくできます
Moshi, Benkyou sureba goukaku dekimasu

Unlike たら, ば　is a little more tricky to form so you shouild take some time really studying this and working through some examples of your own.

Now that we know the basics of forming today’s grammar let’s have a look at some example sentences.

Sentence examples with  – もし~れば

Understand through reading.

Let’s now have a look at some example sentences. This first sentence you could use if you are running later for an event or have a meeting to get to.

もし、今すぐ行けば、間に合うだろう。
もし、いますぐ　いけば　まにあう　だろう
Moshi, ima sugu ikeba, ma ni au darou
As long as we go now we should make it

With ば the focus is more on the condition so its emphasising “IF YOU GO NOW” 

In this sentence, lets imagine you are at a store and see something that catches your eye. You ask the clerk if that food tastes nice and if it is (Under that condition) you will buy it. 

When using い adjectives like in this example, simply drop the final い and add ければ

もし、美味しければ、買います。
もし、おいしければ、かいます
Moshi Oishikereba Kaimasu
As long as its delicious ill buy it 

With NA adjectives and nouns you simply use なら at the end to express this form. 

もし暇なら、手伝ってください。
もしひまなら、てつだってください
Moshi hima nara, tetsudatte kudasai
As long as your free please help me 

This is a great sentence to use to ask somebody politely for a helping hand. 

Let’s now look at a study technique you can implement to practice today’s grammar. 

A useful study guide to help you master もしーれば

An effective technique to set you off in the right direction

Now we have all of the basics covered. Let’s now talk about how you can retain and practice with today’s grammar point. Firstly you are going to need to write out all of the sentences from today’s lesson on a piece of paper or document. Next you should study them over and over until you have really learnt them off by heart. This phase is all about pattern recognition and will work unconsciously. 

Next we want you to look at writing out conjugation for verbs, adjective and nouns using ば. Try writing out as many worlds as possible and then conjugating the to the ば form.

Lastly for the next 5 days write out as many example sentences as you can to ensure you get used to using the form. If you don’t use it, you will lose it.

Lastly you can now reap the rewards of the thorough learning you have just undertaken by using it to communicate in Japanese. Ensure you follow this plan and adapt it to other grammar you learn too, it really pays off.

Summary of today’s lesson 

A bitsized breakdown

Let’s look at today’s summary to ensure you can digest all of the informational goodness from today’s online Japanese lesson. 

1. Ba is the Provisional form which indicates “as long as you do” 
2. Moshi can always be dropped as it is only to be used for emphasis 
3. Nouns Adjective and Verbs all conjugate differently depending on type and group
4. It can almost be used interchangeably with tara, however there are exceptions and the BA sentences focus more on condition. 
5. Remember to practice todayus study method to really master it well

Thank you ever so much for joining us in today’s online Japanese lesson on  もし~れば It means so much to us that you continue to use our resources to explorer and improve on your Japanese journey. If you have any questions or ideas for future content that you would like to see in the next lesson please do not hesitate to get in touch. Until the next Japanese lesson, またね.

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