Doubt about the たら conditional


From what I've learned when you used verb + たら, you are saying an if
condition. While reading I came across:

起きたら生えてたの which I interpretate as "When I woke up, (they) had (already) grew."

Is this correct? sometimes たら or others conditionals works as "when"?




Whether to translate it as “when” or “if” is due to a distinction English
makes and has little to do with Japanese.

たら focuses on a state where some event has just completed. If that event is
hypothetical, “if” would be more appropriate. In your case, the main clause
talks about something the speaker actually found out at some point in the
past. Then the completed event of her waking up cannot be hypothetical.

I think the term “conditional” is misleading.




Whether to translate it as “when” or “if” is due to a distinction English
makes and has little to do with Japanese.

たら focuses on a state where some event has just completed. If that event is
hypothetical, “if” would be more appropriate. In your case, the main clause
talks about something the speaker actually found out at some point in the
past. Then the completed event of her waking up cannot be hypothetical.

I think the term “conditional” is misleading.

