How much does it matter if I use the wrong 'if'?


Specifically talking about ば、なら、たら、and と here.

I just read Derek Schaab's excellent reply to [this
question](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/393/differences-
among-%E3%81%9F%E3%82%89-%E3%81%AA%E3%82%89-%E3%82%93%E3%81%A0%E3%81%A3%E3%81%9F%E3%82%89-%E3%81%88%E3%81%B0-etc)
on when to use the different forms of conditionals -- something I'm really
struggling with at the moment. But that is a lot to remember when you're
trying to select the correct expression in a conversation. I expect that most
Japanese aren't even aware of these rules.

So I was wondering, are there simpler rules that get you the right answer most
of the time, and, if you do use the wrong word, how much does it actually
matter? Will you be completely misunderstood, shown to be the foreigner you
are, or anything in between?

Any tips on how other people have approached this learning problem would be
appreciated.




Edited in bold font

  1. An action **in non-past tense** in a なら clause is to succeed that of the main clause, and if you use it wrongly, people will misunderstand which happens before and which after. **Past tense in なら clauses stands for if it's true or not**.

  2. As long as you use なら correctly, たら is enough versatile to replace ～と and ～ば.

  3. You can't use たら for actions in realized past by the same subject with consistent volitionality. In short, you can say (a) 車に乗ったら 吐いてしまった (When I get on the car, I vomited), but not (b) * 車に乗ったら 運転した (When I get on the car, I drove it). (edit: If you wrongly use it, people misunderstand it's an imaginary conditional or a habitual past.)

  4. (off topic) Use とき for "when".




Edited in bold font

  1. An action **in non-past tense** in a なら clause is to succeed that of the main clause, and if you use it wrongly, people will misunderstand which happens before and which after. **Past tense in なら clauses stands for if it's true or not**.

  2. As long as you use なら correctly, たら is enough versatile to replace ～と and ～ば.

  3. You can't use たら for actions in realized past by the same subject with consistent volitionality. In short, you can say (a) 車に乗ったら 吐いてしまった (When I get on the car, I vomited), but not (b) * 車に乗ったら 運転した (When I get on the car, I drove it). (edit: If you wrongly use it, people misunderstand it's an imaginary conditional or a habitual past.)

  4. (off topic) Use とき for "when".

