なら

なら (rōmaji nara)

1. A conditional particle appended to the plain form of a verb.

   暑 (あつ)いなら、エアコンをつけて。

   Atsui nara, eakon o tsukete.

   If you’re hot, turn on the air conditioner.

2. A topic marker.

• 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 (ともだち)が来 (く)るなら、私 (わたし)はピザを注 (ちゅう)文 (もん)する。

  Tomodachi ga kuru nara, watashi wa piza o chūmon suru.

  If our friends come, I will order pizza [first].

  友達 (ともだち)が来 (き)たら、私 (わたし)はピザを注 (ちゅう)文 (もん)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).
• Another well-known contrast between the two conditionals is the popular public service announcement:

  飲 (の)んだら乗 (の)るな。乗 (の)るなら飲 (の)むな。

  Nondara noru na. Noru nara nomu na.

  If you drink, don’t drive. If you [are going to] drive, don’t drink.

なら (rōmaji Nara)

1. 奈良: Nara, a city in central Japan.

   奈 (な)良 (ら)県 (けん)。

   Nara-ken.

   Nara Prefecture.

   奈 (な)良 (ら)時代 (じだい)。

   Nara-jidai.

   The Nara Period.

• なぜなら (nazenara)
• ならば (naraba)
• なる (naru)
• たら (tara)