Happy Sunday Japanophiles, Herewith the 64th issue of the Hai Japan Newsletter — your Weekly Dose of Japan!

Today, we’re simply going through some grammar:

〜ければ: The Conditional Form of い-Adjectives

Used to express “if…” or “when…” conditions related to adjectives

Table of Contents

1. The Basics

2. Forming 〜ければ

3. Patterns of Use

4. Uses

   • General Truths

   • Habits

5. Beyond the Basics

   • Future Uncertainty

   • Intentions and Future Wishes

6. Common Mistakes

   • い-Adjective Look-Alikes

The Basics

The form 〜ければ transforms an い-adjective into its conditional form. It’s similar to saying “if it’s [adjective]” in English.

It can be used in both casual and formal settings and appears in spoken language, writing, and even proverbs.

Forming 〜ければ

Drop the final い of the い-adjective, and add ければ:

Note: よい (good) becomes よければ, not よいければ.

Patterns of Use

Like other conditional clauses, 〜ければ sets a condition. Sentences using it have this pattern:

[Condition] + [Result]

Example:
おいしければ、売れるでしょう。
If it’s delicious, it will sell well.

Reversed Order (spoken):
売れると思うよ、おいしければ。
I think it’ll sell well… if it’s tasty, that is.

Uses

1. General Truths

Use 〜ければ to describe things that are always true under a certain condition.

Example:
終わりよければ全てよし。
All’s well that ends well.

2. Habits

It can express habits that occur when a condition is met:

Present Habit:
天気がよければよく外を走ります。
If the weather’s nice, I often go running.

Past Habit:
子供のころは、天気がよければよく外を走りました。
When I was a child, I used to run if the weather was nice.

Emphatic Past Habit:
天気がよければよく外を走ったものだ。
I used to go running often when the weather was nice.

Beyond the Basics

3. Future Uncertainty

Use with words like もし, かもしれない, or でしょう to talk about uncertain conditions.

Examples:
もし天気が悪ければ、遠足は中止になるかもしれない。
If the weather is bad, the trip might be canceled.

4. Intentions and Future Wishes

Pair with つもり (intention) or 〜ましょう (let’s) to express plans.

Example (Intention):
質がよければ、買うつもりです。
If it’s good quality, I plan to buy it.

Example (Suggestion):
質がよければ、買いましょう。
If it’s good quality, let’s buy it.

Common Mistakes

い-Adjective Look-Alikes

Some nouns and verbs look like い-adjectives but are not.

For example:
違う (to be wrong/different) becomes 違い (difference — a noun).

Incorrect:
❌ 違ければ、言ってください。
Correct:
⭕ 違えば、言ってください。
If it’s wrong, please let me know.

Tip: If it ends in う and is a verb, don’t use ければ — use the verb conditional form 〜えば instead.

That’s all, folks!

Let me know if you enjoyed this simple grammar run-through :)

Have a great Sunday!