Practice JLPTHow to tell them apart
The core contrast is timing and certainty. なら takes the preceding clause as a supposition or established context and comments on it, so the main clause is usually a judgment, advice, or intention, not something that happens after. たら is sequential: the main clause happens after the たら clause is realized, so it works for
- なら Use なら when you accept the condition as a given context and respond to it, like そんなに高いのなら買えません.
- たら Use たら when the main clause happens after the condition is realized, like 先生に聞いたら分かった.
なら nara
If (condition)
If it is true that; if it is the case that; if; would; could | A conjunction which indicates that the preceding sentence is the speaker’s supposition about the truth of a present or past fact or the actualisation of something in the future.
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そんなに高いのなら買えません。
If it is that expensive, I can't buy it.
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シカゴへ行くのならバスで行きなさい。
If you go to Chicago, go by bus.
たら tara
If/When
If; when; after | A subordinate conjunction which indicates that the action/state expressed by the main clause in a sentence takes place after the action/state expressed by the subordinate clause.
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先生に聞いたら直ぐ分かった。
When I asked my teacher, I understood right away.
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嫌いだったら残して下さい。
If you don't like it, please leave it.
なら and たら are both JLPT N4 grammar points that Japanese learners often mix up. This page compares them side by side — meanings, usage and example sentences — so you can tell them apart.