なら
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Japanese
[edit]Etymology 1
[edit]Form of ならば (naraba) with its final mora deleted, treated as the conditional of だ (da) in traditional Japanese grammar.
Alternative forms
[edit]- ならば (naraba)
Particle
[edit]- A conditional particle appended to a noun or the plain form of a verb or adjective.
- 暑いなら、エアコンをつけて。
- Atsui nara, eakon o tsukete.
- If it's hot, turn on the air conditioner.
- 君が行くなら僕も行こう。
- Kimi ga iku nara boku mo ikō.
- If you go, I'll go too.
- 適度な緊張ならいいが、過度の緊張は脳の大敵だ。
- Tekido na kinchō nara ii ga, kado no kinchō wa nō no taiteki da.
- If it's just a moderate amount of nervousness, it can be good, but too much can be your worst enemy.
- 辞書なら ○○。
- Jisho nara ○○.
- If it's a dictionary you need, choose ○○. / ○○, the only dictionary you'll ever need.
- 暑いなら、エアコンをつけて。
- A topic marker.
- 花なら桜だ。
- Hana nara sakura da.
- As for flowers, it is the cherry blossom.
- 風景ならスイスに及ぶ国はない。
- fūkei nara Suisu ni oyobu kuni wa nai.
- As for landscape, there isn't a country comparable to Switzerland.
- 花なら桜だ。
Usage notes
[edit]- For 1., なら (nara) implies that the verb before なら (nara) succeeds the verb after なら (nara) in time. This is the opposite of the conditional particle たら (tara), which implies that the first verb will precede the second verb. Contrast:
- 友達が来るなら、私はピザを注文する。
- Tomodachi ga kuru nara, watashi wa piza o chūmon suru.
- If our friends come, I will order pizza [[[beforehand]]].
- 友達が来たら、私はピザを注文する。
- Tomodachi ga kitara, watashi wa piza o chūmon suru.
- If our friends come, I will order pizza [[[afterward]]].
- Notice that a verb in the past tense is needed to use たら (tara). The 〜た (~ta) from the past tense is replaced by たら (tara).
- 友達が来るなら、私はピザを注文する。
- Another well-known contrast between the two conditionals is the popular public service announcement:
- 飲んだら乗るな。乗るなら飲むな。
- Nondara noru na. Noru nara nomu na.
- If you drink, don’t [then] drive. If you [are going to] drive, don’t drink.
- 飲んだら乗るな。乗るなら飲むな。
See also
[edit]Etymology 2
[edit]| For pronunciation and definitions of なら – see the following entry. | ||
| ||
| (This term, なら (nara), is the hiragana spelling of the above term.) For a list of all kanji read as なら, see Category:Japanese kanji read as なら.) |
Etymology 3
[edit]| For pronunciation and definitions of なら – see the following entry. | ||
| ||
| (This term, なら (nara), is the hiragana spelling of the above term.) For a list of all kanji read as なら, see Category:Japanese kanji read as なら.) |