Supposing: 要是 / 假如 / 如果……的话
复句 / complex sentences
Tone colorsā tone 1á tone 2ǎ tone 3à tone 4a neutral
要是 / 假如 / 如果 + condition (+ 的话)，(Subject) + 就 + …
To make a supposition ("if…"):
- 如果: neutral, the most common;
- 要是 (yàoshi): more spoken;
- 假如 (jiǎrú): more written, often for unlikely hypotheses.
You often add 的话 after the condition and 就 in the result. You can even keep just 的话: 有时间的话，我就去。
The result can also be a question: 要是你中了一百万，你会做什么？
Examples
要是你的银行卡丢了的话，要马上给银行打电话。
Yàoshi nǐ de yínhángkǎ diū le dehuà, yào mǎshàng gěi yínháng dǎ diànhuà.If you lose your bank card, call the bank straight away.
假如我有很多钱，我就去环游世界。
Jiǎrú wǒ yǒu hěn duō qián, wǒ jiù qù huányóu shìjiè.If I had lots of money, I'd travel around the world.
方便的话，请你帮我换一点儿人民币。
Fāngbiàn dehuà, qǐng nǐ bāng wǒ huàn yìdiǎnr rénmínbì.If it's convenient, could you change a bit of RMB for me?
Common mistakes
✗ 要是你去，我也就去了。 → for the future, no final 了. ✓ 要是你去，我也去。
✗ 如果……所以…… → ✓ 如果……就……