Expressing "if… then…" with "jiaru"
Revision as of 07:17, 11 November 2011 by Jonathan.pope (talk | contribs)
"假如..., 就..." (jiǎrú..., jiù...) is yet another way to express "If..., then..." in Chinese, but it is much more formal than 要是 or 如果 are (in both written and spoken Chinese).
Here's the basic structure:
假如 + Statement + 就 + Result
Here are some examples of this pattern:
- 假如 你 的 成绩 更 好 一点儿，你 就 能 申请 北大。
- 假如 我 是 你，我 就 不 抽烟。
- 假如 你 的 女朋友 不 爱 你，你们 就 分手 吧。
Sources and further reading
Books
- Common Chinese Patterns 330 (pp. 124)
- Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar: A Practical Guide (pp. 279)
