In English, the word “if” is used often.
Consider these examples:
If you don’t do your homework you teacher will be mad.
If you break the vase your mother will be unhappy.
If you don’t wash the car your father will not give you your pocket money.
To do this in Japanese, you need to use the word to.
This is the same one you use for the word “and”.
Here’s what you do:
Sentence 1 to Sentence 2
For example:
ruii bitton no saifu wa takai to kaimasen
If the LouisVuittion purse/wallet is expensive I won’t buy it
Let’s break that down:
ruii bitton Louis Vuitton
no ownership particle/noun as adjctive particle
saifu wallet/purse
wa topic marker particle “as for”
takai expensive
to if
kaimasen negative polite for of kau “to buy”
Let’s try another one:
kabin o kowasu to okaasan ni okorareru
If you break the vase your mother will get angry
Let’s break that one down:
kabin vase
o direct object particle
kowasu break (dictionary form)
to if
okaasan mother
ni okorareru get angry
Try and make a few sentences of your own.
The only strict rule is that any verb in Sentence 1 must not be past. If the sentence is past tense then that is indicated by the tense of Sentence 2.
See you next time.
David