ば

ば is a basic conditional used to express a condition and its result. It ties a condition to a consequence in a direct, often generic, way. It’s common in both spoken and written Japanese. Notes on usage: - For verbs, use the dictionary (plain) form + ば to mean “if X, then …” (e.g., 食べれば, 行けば). - For negative / non-past situations, you can use the ない form + ければ or the plain form in a conditional sense (食べなければ). - For i-adjectives, drop the い and add けば/ければ depending on form; the standard is 〜ければ (e.g., 高ければ、買う). In practice, you’ll often see 高ければ rather than 高ければ. - For na-adjectives and nouns, use であれば (or でなければ for negative condition) to form the conditional (静かであれば、静かならば). The short form なら is used for casual speech but is a different pattern. Typical contexts include giving conditions, setting terms in arguments, or predicting consequences given certain circumstances.