は vs なら in this sentence


I'm trying to understand the difference between は and なら in these two
sentences.

> 彼はきっと大丈夫。

> 彼ならきっと大丈夫。




This なら is basically a condition marker like "if". So a literal translation is
something like "If it's _he_ , (he) will be okay".

It's used typically in two situations:

  * The speaker wants to confirm the topic using なら: "(Oh, so you're talking about _him_? If that's the case, then) he will be okay."

  * The speaker is thinking he is special ("he" is the condition of the remaining part of the sentence): "(Other people may not be able to do this, but if it's _he_ who tries it,) he will be okay."




This なら is basically a condition marker like "if". So a literal translation is
something like "If it's _he_ , (he) will be okay".

It's used typically in two situations:

  * The speaker wants to confirm the topic using なら: "(Oh, so you're talking about _him_? If that's the case, then) he will be okay."

  * The speaker is thinking he is special ("he" is the condition of the remaining part of the sentence): "(Other people may not be able to do this, but if it's _he_ who tries it,) he will be okay."

