Re-ordered and re-wrote Lesson 27 on conditionals

Author: Morgawr

src/Section1/Part2/Lesson27.md

@@ -1,10 +1,14 @@
 # Saying "if" and "when" with the four conditionals
 
-Japanese has many ways to say “if” and provide conditional statements. In this lesson we will introduce the four main ones. Don’t try to memorize this completely, just learn to recognize each of them when you encounter them and know they roughly mean "if" or "when". 
-
 The order of conditionals in Japanese states first the condition, and then the resulting action. Conditionals are one way we can connect two “A does B” type sentences in a structure like “If A does B, then C does D”. Obviously, structures like “If A is B, then C does D” or any other combinations are acceptable too.
 
-The first conditional we will see is the ば form which turns verbs into a condition. The conjugation is formed by changing the u at the end of a verb into an e, then adding ば. Basically, for godan verbs, you replace the u with an e, and for ichidan verbs, you add れ after the stem.
+If only it were so simple that we could get by with just one conditional, it'd be really nice, but the fun part of Japanese is that there are a lot of different ways to say similar things, and conditionals are one of such cases. Unfortunately they all have different usages and nuances that are incredibly hard to explain in terms of English grammar, so you'll have to rely on intuition and exposure.
+
+There are four main conditionals: たら, ば, と and なら. They all fall into a spectrum of “if” and “when” and sometimes even “as” (like in “As I woke up, I heard a weird sound outside”). There are actually more ways to make conditional sentences, but these are the main ones for this lesson.
+
+As always, don’t try to memorize this lesson perfectly, just learn to recognize each of the examples when you encounter them and know they roughly mean "if" or "when". 
+
+The simplest conditional we will see is the ば form which turns verbs into a condition. The conjugation is formed by changing the u at the end of a verb into an e, then adding ば. Basically, for godan verbs, you replace the u with an e, and for ichidan verbs, you add れ after the stem.
 
 <pre>
 見<b>れば</b>死ぬ
@@ -30,23 +34,7 @@ For い adjectives we turn the い into ければ:
 If that is okay (with you), please teach me.
 </pre>
 
-If only it were that simple, with just one conditional, we'd be finished already. But the fun part of Japanese is that there are a lot of different ways to build conditional sentences, and they all have different usages and nuances that are incredibly hard to explain in terms of English grammar. We will now see と, たら, and なら. They all fall into a spectrum of “if” and “when” and sometimes even “as” (like in “As I woke up, I heard a weird sound outside”). 
-
-と is used to link two events where one is a natural consequence of the other, in a strongly sequential way.
-
-<pre>
-あんまり食べる<b>と</b>太りますよ
-<b>If</b> you eat too much, you’ll get fat
-</pre>
-
-This と is also commonly used in narration to describe a series of events that happen one after the other. In this usage, it makes it sound like the reader has no control over the events and they are just a spectator to a show where these events happen “naturally” in front of them.
-
-<pre>
-少し歩く<b>と</b>、開けた場所に出た。
-<b>After</b> walking for a while, they came to an open area.
-</pre>
-
-Similar to と, たら is also used to connect two events, and it can either assume a purely hypothetical or a strictly temporal meaning. It can be “If A happens, then B” but also “As A happened, B happened right after”. To more easily make out this distinction, it’s common for phrases in the hypothetical sense to use もし as an opening word to clue in the listener.
+たら is another conditional that in some usages is similar to ば. Unlike ば, however, it has a broader scope and nuance of sequential series of actions. It can be used to connect two events in either a purely hypothetical or strictly temporal sequence. It can be “If A happens, then B” but also “As A happened, B happened right after”. To more easily make out this distinction, it’s common for phrases in the hypothetical sense to use もし as an opening word to clue in the listener.
 
 <pre>
 <b>もし</b>敵がい<b>たら</b>私が斬り捨てます
@@ -58,14 +46,28 @@ Similar to と, たら is also used to connect two events, and it can either ass
 
 The “as” usage of たら is common when recounting past "one off” events that happened to you, often unexpectedly.
 
+たら and ば in the hypothetical sense can often be interchangeable. There’s even regional variation where people from one area of Japan might prefer one or the other and vice versa. This is why you shouldn’t ask questions like “why did this person use たら instead of ば?”. Just accept it.
+
 There is another special usage of たら, usually directly after names, in the form of ったら. This ったら has a completely different meaning and just acts as a particle that marks an exclamation of exasperation. It is not a conditional.
 
 <pre>
 もう、お父さん<b>ったら</b>、しっかりしなさい！
 Come on, dad, get your shit together!
 </pre>
 
-たら and ば in the hypothetical sense can often be interchangeable. There’s even regional variation where people from one area of Japan might prefer one or the other and vice versa. This is why you shouldn’t ask questions like “why did this person use たら instead of ば?”. Just accept it.
+と is used to link two events where one is a natural consequence of the other, in a strongly sequential way. This is similar to the temporal ordering of たら but rather than marking individual occurrences of events ("I did X and then...") it gets used to describe general events that happen every time ("Once you do X, then...").
+
+<pre>
+あんまり食べる<b>と</b>太りますよ
+<b>If</b> you eat too much, you’ll get fat
+</pre>
+
+This と is also commonly used in narration to describe a series of events that happen one after the other. In this usage, it makes it sound like the reader has no control over the events and they are just a spectator to a show where these events happen “naturally” in front of them.
+
+<pre>
+少し歩く<b>と</b>、開けた場所に出た。
+<b>After</b> walking for a while, they came to an open area.
+</pre>
 
 The last conditional for this lesson is なら. なら is a strictly hypothetical conditional. It implies that the condition is assumed true in the hypothetical world where the statement takes place.
 This means that when you say X なら Y, the meaning is close to something like “If we consider the case that X is true, then Y”, but it doesn't sound as verbose as it does in English. It's a very common way to phrase things.
@@ -84,9 +86,9 @@ Due to this specific nuance of なら, it is the only conditional where the seco
 
 The act of 飲む would have to happen before the condition of 乗る, hence the speaker **assumes** 乗る will happen in the hypothetical world where the advice (飲まないで) takes place.
 
-Sometimes, なら can show up as ならば. The meaning is the same, but it feels more literary.
+Sometimes なら can show up as ならば. The meaning is the same, but it feels more literary.
 
-With verbs and い adjectives, sometimes の can be placed between the verb and なら. This can give some additional nuance (similar to the explanatory の in のだ) but you don't have to remember this. Just remember that the version with の can sound more literary and formal.
+With verbs and い adjectives, の can sometimes be placed between the verb and なら. This can give some additional nuance (similar to the explanatory の in のだ) but you don't have to remember this. Just remember that the version with の can sound more literary and formal.
 
 <pre>
 そんなに知りたい<b>のなら</b>、教えてあげましょう。