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Using ば ba to creative conditional verb forms and sentences in Japanese.

Hello everyone and welcome to another awesome online Japanese lesson form Bondlingo. Today we are going to be focusing on the conditional verb form ば to learn how to express “IF” in Japanese with verbs. This is a really useful lesson and will help you really understand how to create conditional verbs and sentences with your Japanese.

Mastering the conditional verb form ba (〜ば) “IF…” in Japanese

First, we will focus on how to create ば verbs and look at exactly when and where they are used in communication. Secondly, we will look at some example sentences to gain a deeper understanding of how they are used in context. Thirdly, we will journey into a study tip to ensure you can really get to grips with the conditional form and practice it outside of the lesson too.

So if you’re ready let’s get right into the lesson!

What is the Conditional formば and when should I use it?

The conditional form ば represents “if” in Japanese and indicates that the preceding clause expresses a condition. For example, “If it rains, I won’t go” raining is the condition here. This is super useful to use in your everyday conversation; imagine how many times you use if in your day to day communication. ば is added to the end of verbs to create the conditional form.

The first thing we need to so is understand how this is constructed, so now we are going to look at how to make ば verbs.

How to form the conditional verb form ba (〜ば)

When it comes to creating the conditional verb form ba (〜ば)  the first thing you need to do is establish the verb groups, see the charts below.

Group 1:

IRU/ERU Verbs – Verbs that end in IRU いるand ERUえる.

With these verbs you need to take off the る and add ば to create the negative form

These are considered the easiest group to conjugate into the conditional verb form ba (〜ば)  

Group 2:

Verbs in group 2 end with syllables ku (く), gu (ぐ), su (す), mu (む), nu (ぬ), bu (ぶ), u (う), tsu (つ), or ru (る).

With this group, remove the final る (ru) and replace it with れば (reba).. Be careful, when you do this with verbs that end in only う like いう you need to remove the う and add えば.

Group 3:

Is made up of only 2 verbs, Suru する and Kuru くる

Although this is not necessarily hard to conjugate, you do need to remember these individually.

We are now going to look at building some sentences so we can understand how it works in various situations, be sure to pay close attention to the verb groups.

Example sentences with the conditional verb form ba (〜ば)

Let’s now have a look at some example sentences with the conditional verb form ba (〜ば) 

母がいいと言えば、犬を飼いたいです。
haha ga ii to ieba, inu wo kaitai desu
If my mother agrees, I want to keep a dog.

お酒を飲めば、運転してはいけません。
osake wo nomeba, untenshitewa ikemasen
You must not drive if you drink alcohol.

毎日練習をすれば、上手になるよ。
mainichi renshuu wo sureba, jouzu ni naru yo.
If you practice every day, you're going to improve!

If you practice every day, you’re going to improve!

As you can see in these sentences, they are all based on a condition. It is really important to read these sentences aloud many times so the pattern can sink into your mind.

An effective study method for remembering the conditional verb form ba (〜ば)

A great way to remember this verb form is to go away and practice creating as many example sentences as you can. First start by conjugating 10 verbs into the “ba” form. From there create 10 example sentences spanning across a multitude of different situations. Do this once a day for the next 3 days and you will have mastered the form. If you can. Get a native speaker to check your sentences.

Well guys that brings us to the end of today’s lesson. We really hope that you have enjoyed it and really got a lot from it today. Remember to practice the effective study tip as this will ensure you do not forget ば any time soon.

If you have any more ideas for content or any general questions that you want to ask, then please get in touch with us, we would be glad to help. Keep studying. Keep pushing yourself further and never give up.

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