(no subject)

[kittydesade]

たら　is one of several words in Japanese that refer to conditional if-then dependence. When we say A たら B we mean that B is valid contingent on the fulfillment of A. That is to say, the event, action, or situation in B is realized if and when the condition A is met.


日本に行ったら、　着物を買います。
I will buy the kimono if and when I go to Japan.


The initial た comes from the short form past tense endings of predicates:
verbs: 読む　--> 読んだら
い-adj:　やさしい　--> やさしかったら
な-adj: 静かだ　--> 静かだったら
noun+です:　休みだ　--> 休みだったら
negatives: ない -->　なかったら

Sometimes the clause before たら describes a possible condition and the clause after it is the consequence which follows. Whether or not the condition is actually met is largely an open issue. It may be fairly likely, as in the first example below, or very unlikely, as in the last.

天気がよかったら、　散歩に行きます。
We will go for a walk, if the weather is fine.

山下先生に会ったら、　そのことを聞こうと思います。
I will ask about it, if I see Professor Yamashita.

日本人だったら、この言葉を知っているでしょう。
If somebody is a Japanese person, they will probably know this word.

たからくじに当たったら、　アムネスティにお金をおくります。
I would send money to Amnesty International, if I should win the lottery.

Note that when you say A たら B, you cannot express a sequence of events in which B occurs before A. B can only take place at the time A comes true or later. You cannot therefore use たら　to describe an 'if' sentence like the following (B=this weekend, which comes before A=next week)

来週しけんがあったら、　今度の週末は勉強したほうがいいですよ。
It will be better for you to study this weekend, if you have an exam next week.

Sometimes, the たら clause describes a very probable condition, and the second clause describes the event that takes place as soon as the situation is realized. With this type of sentence, たら simply arranges future events and activities in a temporal sequence.　

今晩、家に帰ったら、電話します。
I will call you when I get home tonight.

宿題が終わったら、　遊びに行きましょう。
Let's go out and have some fun once we are done with the homework.

Note that the very same sentences could be interpreted in this way or in the way shown earlier. The difference lies not in the sentences themselves, but in the possibly different ways the real world could be like. I fyou expect to be home tonight in all likelihood, the first sentence here describes what you will do when you get home. If, on the other hand, you are not certain whether you will be home tonight, the same たら　sentence describes what you will do if you get home.

(And that, your honor, is when I shot the book out of a cannon.)

Finally, the たら clause can describe a condition that is unreal and contrary to fact. With this type of sentence you express a purely hypothetical condition and its probable result.

私が猫だったら、　一日中寝ているでしょう。
If I were a cat, I would be asleep all day long. (Oh hell yes.)

お金があったら、　車を買うんですけど。
If I had money, I would buy a car. (Or the house. Outright.)


Yeah, no, our fridge is well and truly dead. Looks like it's takeout and canned meals for the next couple of nights until we can get a new one from apartment management. Whoop de fucking do. Can I have my new house yet? So I can put my new goddamn fridge in it? Pizza for dinner tonight.

I should say something deep and profound and meaningful here. Or maybe something else analytical about Once Upon A Time (and, mainly, Rumplestiltskin) and I kind of feel like I should say that as much as I wanted to shake Belle for being an idiot I realize that I'm also cranky because I expect her to know things that I know, and take that knowledge for granted. With the knowledge and experience she had to work with, she actually did a damn fine job. So, there, I said it. Also, she is the first main female character in any goddamn episode of Once Upon A Time I haven't loathed for being a dippy twit. Well, no, there was Gretel. Second main female character of an episode. There, I said it.

But mostly I'm just tired. I'm tired of this house shit, I'm tired of this apartment being too damn small and/or things not working (heater at the beginning of winter, fridge now, the carpet cleaning they promised never showed up), I'm tired of idiots making dinner plans and then canceling with us at the last minute because they stayed up all goddamn night like morons, I'm tired of the Republican fucking morons who seem to be dominating their party's front lines. And the news in general. I'm tired of the boy's work drama (long story I probably shouldn't share) and I'm tired of being tired and never catching up on my goddamn work.

Fuck the world, I'm going to bed. (And by going to bed I mean writing and going to bed on time rather than early for once. Which is sort of like going to bed but less fun.)