Examples
Meaning
〜たら means if, when, or after. It often describes what will happen once a condition is met or after an event takes place.
Formation
Use the past plain form and add ら. For verbs, use forms such as 行ったら and 食べたら. For い-adjectives, use 高かったら. For な-adjectives and nouns, use 静かだったら or 学生だったら.
Usage
Use 〜たら for one-time situations, future plans, requests, invitations, and discoveries. It is very common in everyday speech because it handles both hypothetical if and time-based when or after.
Nuance
〜たら is conversational and flexible. It does not always mean the event already happened, even though it uses the past form. The past form here marks completion of the condition.
Comparison
Compared with 〜と, 〜たら can be used before requests and personal intentions. Compared with 〜ば, it is often more natural for concrete future events, such as when you arrive, call me.
Common Mistakes
A common mistake is thinking that 〜たら always means past time because it uses the た form. In conditional sentences, it can refer to future or hypothetical situations.
Related Grammar
〜と
〜と is a conditional pattern used for natural results, automatic actions, directions, and repeated facts.
〜ば
〜ば is a conditional pattern meaning if. It often focuses on the condition that must be true for something else to happen.
〜なら
〜なら is used when making a condition based on a topic, assumption, or information already mentioned. It often appears in advice and recommendations.
〜と・〜たらの違い
This page compares 〜と and 〜たら, two common Japanese conditionals that learners often translate as if or when.
〜ば・〜たらの違い
This page explains the difference between 〜ば and 〜たら, especially when both can mean if in English.