9. If You Want
“We cannot cross the sea merely by staring at the water.” - Rabindranath
I hope you remember たい form. If you do, then perhaps you remember how the たい part is technically an い-adjective. When it comes to たら form, you know what to do with い-adjectives, right? Put them into た-form and add a ら to it to make it 〜かったら.
たべたい ＝ Want To eat
あそびたい ＝ Want To Play
なりたい ＝ Want to become
Next step is to change these to past tense たい form.
たべたい → たべたかった (wanted to eat)
あそびたい → あそびたかった (wanted to play)
なりたい → なりたかった (wanted to become)
Now that we have these in past tense casual form, we just add the ら to it to complete the たら.
たべたかった → たべたかったら (if you want to eat)
あそびたかった → あそびたかったら (if you want to play)
なりたかった → なりたかったら (if you want to become)
As long as you know たい form and Casual Past Tense い Adjectives, the pieces should just fall together for this one.
a日本 に いきたかったら 今 いったら どう ですか？
If you want to go to Japan, why not go now?
aすし を たべたかったら すしランド へ いったら どう ですか？
If you want to eat sushi, how about going to sushi land?
aおんがく を ききたかったら iPod を かったら どう ですか？
If you want to listen to music, why not buy a iPod?
Now, we do run into one problem with 〜たい form + たら. Right now you don’t know any type of “command” form. You learned how to suggest something in the previous page, but to tell someone what to do (for example: “If you want to eat sushi, you should go buy fish”), we’re lacking in grammar. That being said, I just want you to keep たい+たら in the back of your mind. Know how to make the conversion (it’s just like い-adjectives, remember). We’re not going to work with this particular grammar point any more, but we’ll come back to it as soon as you learn how to tell people what to do. That way you’ll get a review on たい, たら, and “command form” all at once.
So, just make sure you understood what happened on this page and why it happened before moving on. It’ll make your life easier in the future!