conditional N4 uncommon casual
だら／だったら — colloquial conditional 'if it is ~'
だら／だったら ・ だら
Builds on た形
Meaning
- if it is / were ~ / if that's the case ~ — the casual conditional of the copula, on a noun or な-adjective
Key sentence
暇だったら、手伝ってくれない？
If you're free, could you give me a hand?
Formation
| Attaches to | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun / な-adjective + だったら (past-conditional of だ) | N / な-adj + だったら | 雨だったら / 元気だったら |
Variants
だら — A clipped, colloquial/regional contraction of だったら heard in casual speech.
Examples
君だったら、どうする？
If it were you, what would you do?
嫌だったら、断ってもいいよ。
If you don't want to, you're free to say no.
Easily confused with
なら なら picks up a premise already raised ('if it's the case that ~'). だったら overlaps for nouns but is the casual たら-conditional, leaning toward 'if / once it turns out to be ~.' 〜たら たら is the all-purpose conditional on verbs/adjectives. だったら is its copula counterpart — the same たら attached to だ for nouns and な-adjectives.
See だら／だったら in real sentences
Jengo shows だら／だったら the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.
Study it in JengoSources Compiled with reference to A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar. Editorial confidence: medium.