JPN 1500 L.11 Using ~たら
- This HP exercise is part tutorial. If you already understand how to form and use ~たら, then type "ok" in English font for the tutorial portions and skip to the "practice" sections.
a) First of all, 〜たら is formed by using the plain past tense of verbs, nouns, or adjectives then adding ら. This is when it is a positive sentence.
-Verbs: 行く=いったら、食べる=たべたら、買う=かったら etc.
-"i" adj: おいしい=おいしかったら、安い=やすかったら。。。
-Na adj and nouns: べんり=べんりだったら、学生=学生だったら
b) You can also put ~たらin negative sentences, in which case, you use the plain past negative.
-Verbs: 食べる=たべなかったら (When/if (you) do not eat..)、行く=いかなかったら (When/if you do not go...)
-i adj: おいしい=おいしくなかったら、いい=よくなかったら
-Na adj, nouns: 学生=学生じゃなかったら、べんり=べんりじゃなかったら
Type "ok" in English font to go to the next portion.... - Using 〜たら
a) たら has several functions in Japanese. Its primary function is to indicate "when" or "if", but is also used to indicate "surprise" at what happened next (when talking about past events), giving and receiving advice, regrets, wishes etc.
b) Sentences with ~たら follow a basic pattern: Sentence1~たら, Sentence2
c) The verb at the end of Sentence2 determines the tense of the entire sentence. That is, Sentence 1 ~たら has no tense (even though it is made from plain past) and must get its tense from the S2 verb. That is why, when Sent. 2 ends in past tense, 〜たらis often translated as "when" rather than "if".
d) A basic restriction on 〜たら sentences is that Sentence 1 must be realized before sentence 2. That is why ~た is used (because presumably, the Sentence 1 already happened or will happen before Sentence 2)
e) Unlike other conditionals in Japanese, ~たら is quite flexible in terms of what type of information Sentence 2 can convey. For example, sentence2 can be a request, intention, suggestion, permission or prohibition.
f) It is also the only (when/if) form where Sent. 2 indicates a situation that occurs out of the speaker's control. E.g. paatii ni ittara, Tanaka san ni aimashita. (When I went to the party, I met Tanaka san). This indicates that meeting Tanaka was accidental - not planned.
Type "ok" in Eng. font to get to the next section - Now try a sentence...
When (I) opened the window, (it) became COLD.
Type in Japanese
No spaces
Capitalized words are supposed to be in kanji
No spaces after your comma
Do not type words in parentheses
NO periods at the end of the sentence....
These rules are for all the sentences in this tutorial... - If (it's) CHEAP, (I'll) BUY (it).
- If the wheather is not good, I will not GO.
- Okay, now let's practice using 〜たら for giving, receiving advice.
a) A generic way of asking advice is...
-どうしたらいいですか。(What should I do?)
You can also say....
-何をしたらいいですか。
b) Other ways of asking for advice are more specific
-どこで勉強したらいいですか。(Where should I study?)
-だれと行ったらいいと思いますか。(Who do you think I should go with?)
c) Now, giving advice requires the same use of 〜たら
The basic way of suggesting advice is using Verb~たらどうですか。which means "How about doing ~~?"
-図書館で勉強したらどうですか。(How about studying at the library?)
-友だちと行ったらどうですか。
- Note: This pattern is so common that ~どうですか is often omitted in conversation, leaving the ~たら portion with a rising (question) intonation (e.g. 勉強したら? - how about studying?)
c) You can also use 〜たらいいです (If/when you do (verb) it will be good)
OR ~たらいいと思います。(I think it would be best if you...)
-Note, you can replace いい with some other adjective (e.g. どこに行ったらおもしろいですか - where can/should I go that's interesting...?)
d) The difference between 〜たらどうですか。and 〜たらいいです。is one of "forcefulness" - 〜たらどうですか is a less forceful way of suggesting advice. This is why と思います is often added after ~たらいい
(~たらいいと思います) - to soften it.
Type "ok" to get to the next portion....
e) - Now, let's try asking for advice. You are in a tough situation, How do you say "what should I do?"
Type in Japanese font, no periods, words in parentheses are omitted, and capitalized words should be in kanji... - You want to take a friend to a good restaurant in town. You ask your friend "where should (we) EAT?"... You say...
- You want to buy a friend a present but are not sure what to buy. So you ask another mutual friend. "WHAT should (I) BUY?".. You say...
- Okay, now about giving advice. Your friend is sick with H1N1 and wants to know what to do to get better. You suggest " How about DRINKING (taking) some Vitamin C (ビタミンC)" You say....
- Your friend is having trouble listening to the professor in English. You suggest "How about USING a digital recorder (デジタルレコーダー)". You say...
- That's it for practice... Although there are a few used of ~たら that you should know about. For example...
1) To express a wish or regret = 明日の天気がよかったらいいですけどね。。。(If tomorrow's weather was good, that would be nice...." Also, このセーターも少し安かったらいいですけど。。。(If this sweater was cheaper, that'd be good..(but it's not...))
2. Surprise or incidental discovery =
ドアをあげったら、田中さんがいました。 (When I opened the door, there was Tanaka!). Note that this usage always occurs in the past tense - at least the last clause (Sent2) ends in the past tense and ~たら is translated as "when"...
Type "ok" in English font to end this tutorial...