Lesson 66: 行くなら・雨の 場合は
N4 · Lesson 66 · 18 min — Use なら to answer what someone just said and give advice. Use 場合 for “in case of ~” on notices and rules.
In the last two lessons you learned たら, と and ば. This lesson covers the last two members of the “if” family. なら is for picking up a topic and giving advice. 場合 is for notices and rules. After this, the next lesson reviews all four together. Now, the comic!
After this lesson, you can:
- Pick up the other person's topic and give advice: ラーメンなら、くまやが いいですよ (If it's ramen, くまや is good!)
- Read “in case of ~” on notices and rules: 地震の 場合は、エレベーターを 使わないで ください (In case of an earthquake, please do not use the elevator)
- Tell apart verb + なら (advice before doing it) and verb + たら (after doing it), and tell 場合 apart from とき
The New Year Fortune
Last lesson, Mr. Kuma wouldn't let Rin touch the wooden crates in the storeroom. On New Year's Day, Rin and friends visit a shrine in Yanaka for the first visit of the year. (初詣 = first shrine visit of the year; 願いごと = a wish; 待ち人 = the person you are waiting for; もうすぐ = very soon)
Use なら to pick up a topic and give advice. Use 場合 for “in case of ~” (食べすぎの 場合は). The last line Rin says, 先生の 場合は, is a different use: when talking about a person, Nの 場合は = “in your case / as for you”. Next lesson: worrying news arrives from Grandpa...
Words in this lesson: New Year shrine visits and notice language
- 初詣 (hatsumōde): first shrine visit of the year
- 願いごと (negaigoto): wish
- おみくじ (omikuji): fortune slip (at a shrine)
- 引く (hiku): to draw (a fortune), to pull
- 待ち人 (machibito): the person you are waiting for
- 心 (kokoro): heart, mind
- 決める (kimeru): to decide
- もうすぐ (mōsugu): very soon, almost
- 新幹線 (shinkansen): Shinkansen (bullet train)
- 着く (tsuku): to arrive
- 場合 (baai): case, situation
- 地震 (jishin): earthquake
- エレベーター (erebētā): elevator
- 中止 (chūshi): cancellation (of an event)
- 熱 (netsu): fever, temperature
- 食べすぎ (tabesugi): eating too much
Grammar 1 / 2: If it's ~ (なら)
Plain form / noun + なら: pick up the other person's topic with “if it's ~”, then give advice or an opinion
- What is なら?: You pick up what the other person just said, or what everyone is talking about: “if it's ~”. Then you give your own advice, opinion or invitation. If they say ラーメンが 食べたいです, you reply ラーメンなら、くまやが いいですよ.
- How to attach it: Verbs and い-adjectives use the plain form: 行く／行かない + なら, 寒い + なら. Nouns and な-adjectives attach directly, with no だ: ラーメンなら, ひまなら, 学生なら.
- Verb + なら and verb + たら: before or after?: The before/after order only matters with verbs. 行くなら = you haven't gone yet, so you give advice for “if you're going”: 京都に 行くなら、新幹線が 便利です. 行ったら = “after going”, you do the next thing: 京都に 行ったら、写真を とって ください. With nouns and adjectives + なら (ラーメンなら, ひまなら) there is no before or after. You are just picking up a topic.
- Don't put a natural result after it: A natural result (“whenever ~ happens, ~ always happens”) uses と: 冬に なると、寒く なります. After なら, you put what the speaker thinks: advice, an invitation, a request or an opinion.
- ラーメンなら、くまやが いちばん おいしいですよ。 — If it's ramen, くまや is the best!
- 神社に 行くなら、この 道が 近いです。 — If you're going to the shrine, this road is shorter.
- 京都に 行くなら、新幹線が 便利です。 — If you're going to Kyoto, the Shinkansen is convenient.
- ひまなら、いっしょに 初詣に 行きませんか。 — If you're free, shall we go for the first shrine visit together?
- 寒いなら、あたたかい お茶を 飲みませんか。 — (Hearing someone say “It's cold”) If you're cold, how about a cup of hot tea?
- おみくじなら、あそこに ありますよ。 — If you want to draw a fortune, it's over there.
Grammar 2 / 2: In case of ~
〜場合は: “in case of ~, if ~”. Most common on notices and rules
- What is 場合?: “In case of ~, if ~”: you first imagine something that might happen, then say what to do. It is most common on notices at stations, hotels and schools. It is often followed by 〜て ください or 〜ないで ください.
- How to attach it: same as とき: 場合 is a noun, and what comes before it works just like とき: 雨の 場合, わからない 場合, 熱が 出た 場合, 寒い 場合, ひまな 場合. Only な-adjectives need な. い-adjectives attach directly. Adding は makes it clearer: 〜場合は.
- 場合 and とき: For “when ~” as a point in time, memories and daily habits use とき: 子どもの とき (as a child), 雨の とき. 場合 means “in case it happens”: ✗ 子どもの 場合、よく 海で 泳ぎました (to say “when I was a child”, use とき). Also, Nの 場合は has another meaning, “as for ~” (see the next point), and that one can talk about habits or rules: 子どもの 場合は、半分です = for children, it's half price (this is correct).
- Nの 場合は: “as for ~, in the case of ~”: When talking about people, わたしの 場合は = “in my case”. You use it to say that your situation (or someone's) is different from others, and it can describe habits. In the comic, Rin says 先生の 場合は、毎日ですね = “In your case (overeating), it's every day, isn't it!”
- 地震の 場合は、エレベーターを 使わないで ください。 — In case of an earthquake, please do not use the elevator.
- 雨の 場合は、祭りは 中止です。 — If it rains, the festival is cancelled.
- 熱が 出た 場合は、学校を 休んで ください。 — If you get a fever, please take time off school.
- 予約を キャンセルする 場合は、電話して ください。 — If you want to cancel your reservation, please call us. (予約 = reservation; キャンセルする = to cancel)
- わからない 場合は、先生に 聞いて ください。 — If you don't understand, please ask the teacher.
- わたしの 場合は、毎日 学校まで 歩きます。 — (This is the “as for ~” use from point 4) In my case, I walk to school every day.