My humble 2016 JLPT N3 thread

I found the ば explanation in Tae Kim:

Quote:The next type of conditional just expresses a regular "if" condition without any assumptions or embedded meanings. The conjugation rules for the 「ば」 conditional is below.

Conjugation Rules for 「ば」

• For verbs: Change the last /u/ vowel sound to the equivalent /e/ vowel sound and attach 「ば」
  Examples
  食べる　→　食べれ → 食べれば
  待つ　→　待て → 待てば
  
  
• For i-adjectives or negatives ending in 「ない」: Drop the last 「い」 and attach 「ければ」.
  Examples
  おかしい　→　おかしければ
  ない　→　なければ
  
  
  
• For nouns and na-adjectives: Attach 「であれば」
  Examples
  学生　→　学生であれば
  暇　→　暇であれば
  

Examples

1.友達に会えれば、買い物に行きます。
If I can meet with my friend, we will go shopping.

2. お金があればいいね。
If I had money, it would be good, huh?

5. 食べなければ病気になるよ。
If you don't eat, you will become sick.

If A...then B is how I interpret the Tae Kim entry.

4時に起きなければ飛行機の時間には間に合わない。
My translation: If I don't wake up by 4 o' clock then I will not make to the airplane on time. (If I don't wake up by 4 o' clock then I will not make my flight...seems more natural)

More info: http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/gra...nditionals