Page 430 - Basic Japanese

provisional, since the proposal refers to the future; and a

conclusion (then-clause), which asks either how the
hypothesis is or whether the hypothesis is all right. The

interrogative word may be either in the hypothesis (dō
shitara…) or in the conclusion (…dō deshō ka), but you do not

find interrogatives in both the if-clause and the then-clause.
This is the usual polite way of asking and giving

directions in Japanese. Notice the difference between the
Japanese and English equivalents in this exchange:

Koko kara Takahashi byōin wa dō ittara ii deshō ka.
How can I get to Takahashi Hospital from here?

Ano basu ni nottara ii deshō.
Take that bus.

Here are some more examples of sentences containing
advice. The English equivalents contain words like ‘should,
ought.’

Dono basu ni nottara ii deshō ka.

Which bus should I take?

Kore o mō sukoshi benkyō sureba ii to omoimasu.

I think you ought to study this a little more.

Nedan o kurabetara dō deshō ka.
Should we compare prices?