Provisional ば

Form

Provisional ば

Level

N4

Used for

Expressing a conditional state (if A, then B) where B is a natural consequence or hypothetical situation.

Rule

For Ichidan verbs: replace final -ru with -reba. For Godan verbs: change the final -u vowel to -eba. Irregular verbs: する becomes すれば (sureba) and 来る becomes 来れば (koreba).

Worked examples

行く → 行けば (iku → ikeba), 食べる → 食べれば (taberu → tabereba), 来る → 来れば (kuru → koreba)

Exceptions

Negative forms use ない → なければ (nakereba). The verb ある has an irregular negative conditional なければ, but affirmative conditional is あれば.

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