Page 425 - Basic Japanese

If the weather is nice, I’ll go for a walk.

Tenki ga ii to, sanpo ni ikimasu.
If (whenever) the weather is nice, I go for a

walk.

Nihon no eiga dattara, mimasu.
If it should be a Japanese movie, I will watch it.

Nihon no eiga nara, mimasu.
If it is a Japanese movie, I’ll watch it.

Nihon no eiga da to, mimasu.
If (whenever) it is a Japanese movie, I watch it.

In all of the sentences where the conditional forms mean

‘if,’ it is possible to add the word moshi ‘supposing, if, say’ at

the beginning of the sentence. Although the word moshi is
thus in the same position as the English word ‘if,’ the

meaning of the latter is carried by the conditional form at
the end of the clause, and the function of the moshi is just to

reinforce that meaning and to act as a signal telling the
listener to expect a conditional form. So you’re more apt to
put moshi at the beginning if the clause is very long. It is

uncommon to use moshi with the provisional. Here is an

example with moshi: