Level 6 · Lesson 3

如果…就…
If … then …

如果明天不下雨，我们就去爬山。

Conditions with 如果, 要是 and …的话, answered by 就 — and 只要…就… beside 只有…才….

听 · Listen

如果明天不下雨
 安娜 —  明天如果不下雨，我们就去爬山，好吗？ 
If it doesn't rain tomorrow, let's go hiking — all right?  
 李明 —  好啊。要是下雨呢？ 
Sure. And if it does rain?  
 安娜 —  下雨的话，我们就在家看电影。 
If it rains, we'll watch a film at home.  
 李明 —  只要你想去，我就跟你一起去。 
As long as you want to go, I'll go with you.  
 安娜 —  不过只有早点儿出发，我们才能六点以前回来。 
But only if we set off early can we be back before six.  
 李明 —  那我们六点起床。如果你起不来，我就给你打电话。 
Then let's get up at six. If you can't get up, I'll call you.  
 安娜 —  要是我没接电话，你就来我家找我。 
If I don't pick up, come to my place and get me.  
 李明 —  好。如果天气好的话，我们八点在门口见面。 
Fine. If the weather's good, we meet at the gate at eight.  

讲解 · Explanation

如果明天不下雨，我们就去爬山。

如果 opens the condition, and the second clause answers it with 就. English 'then' is optional; Chinese 就 is very nearly obligatory, and it has a fixed seat — after the subject of the second clause and directly before the verb. 我们就去, never 就我们去. If you hear yourself say 如果 and then stop, the sentence is only half built.

要是下雨呢？下雨的话，我们就在家看电影。你去，我就去。

Three ways to mark the condition. 要是 is the spoken twin of 如果 — same meaning, easier mouth. 的话 does the same job from the other end: it closes the condition clause instead of opening it, and it can even join 如果 or 要是 for a comfortable frame on both sides. And all three can simply be dropped: 你去，我就去 is a condition carried by 就 alone.

只要你想去，我就跟你一起去。只有早点儿出发，我们才能六点回来。

These two look alike and mean opposite things. 只要 says this much is enough — nothing more is asked — and it takes 就. 只有 says nothing else will do — this is the one road in — and it takes 才, the adverb of later-and-harder than expected. Swapping the two partners is the classic mistake: 只要…就, 只有…才.

生词 · Vocabulary

词	Meaning	注 · Note
如果	if	如果…，就… ; the neutral one
要是	if	口语 — the spoken twin of 如果
的话	if …	sits at the END of the condition clause
只要	as long as, provided that	只要…，就… — this much is enough
只有	only if	只有…，才… — nothing else will do

练习 · Practice

只有早点儿出发，我们 ______ 能六点回来。 Only if we set off early can we be back at six.

如果明天下雨，我们 ______ 不去了。 If it rains tomorrow, we won't go after all.

下雨 ______ ，我们就在家看电影。 If it rains, we'll watch a film at home.

______ 你想去，我就跟你一起去。 Fill in: 'As long as you want to go, I'll go with you.'

排一排。 Arrange the words: 'If it doesn't rain tomorrow, we'll go hiking.'

用一用 · Use it

如果明天天气好，我就去公园。要是我很累的话，我就在家休息。只要有时间，我就学汉语。

Make three plans aloud for tomorrow. One with 如果, one with 要是 … 的话, one with 只要. Every single one must answer itself with 就 in the second clause. Then add a fourth with 只有 … 才 for something that has exactly one way in: 只有每天听，才能听懂.