Если завтра будет дождь, мы останемся дома. Если ты придёшь рано, мы успеем на поезд. Если вы не поймёте, я объясню ещё раз.If it rains tomorrow, we will stay at home. If you come early, we will catch the train. If you don't understand, I will explain again.
A real condition is something that can actually happen: if it rains, if you come, if I have time. The result is then a real consequence. Russian opens such a condition with если and puts the verbs in the same tenses as the facts themselves. The basic word is introduced in Basic conjunctions: и, а, но, или, потому что, если; this article looks at how the whole sentence is built. Unreal "would" conditions (если бы) have their own article, The conditional/subjunctive mood (бы + past tense).
In short: for a future event, Russian uses the future tense in both parts (Если будет дождь, мы останемся дома), where English uses the present after if. A comma separates the two parts, and the result can start with an optional то.
The future in both parts
English says If it rains, with a present tense, and we will stay, with a future. Russian puts the future in the если-clause as well, because the rain itself lies in the future:
- Если завтра будет дождь, мы останемся дома. (If it rains tomorrow, we will stay at home.)
- Если ты придёшь рано, мы успеем на поезд. (If you come early, we will catch the train.)
- Если у меня будет время, я позвоню тебе. (If I have time, I will call you.)
The verbs follow the usual rules for the future: the future of быть for a state or an event named by a noun (если будет дождь, если у меня будет время), буду + infinitive for a process (если я буду работать), and the perfective future for one completed action (если ты придёшь, если я закончу). The forms are in The future tense: imperfective (буду читать) and The future tense: perfective (прочитаю, напишу).
The present tense can also stand in the если-clause when the speaker thinks of an arrangement (Если ты едешь завтра, возьми зонт), but the future is the usual choice for a condition that has not happened yet, and it is the safe one for a learner.
The result: future, imperative or a modal
The result part can be any form that fits what you want to say:
- the future: Если он позвонит, я скажу ему. (If he calls, I will tell him.)
- an imperative: Если ты устал, отдохни. (If you are tired, rest.) The imperative is in The imperative: telling someone to do something.
- a modal word: Если хочешь, можно пойти пешком. (If you like, we can go on foot.)
The optional то
Russian often marks the start of the result with то ("then"). It is used in careful speech and in writing, especially when the если-clause is long, and it can always be left out:
- Если у тебя есть вопросы, (то) спрашивай. (If you have questions, ask.)
- Если вы хотите сдать экзамен, то вам нужно заниматься каждый день. (If you want to pass the exam, you need to study every day.)
The comma stands between the two parts, whichever one comes first: Мы останемся дома, если будет дождь.
Negative conditions: если не
A negative condition uses не before the verb in the если-clause:
- Если ты не придёшь, я буду ждать. (If you don't come, I will wait.)
- Если завтра не будет дождя, мы поедем на дачу. (If it doesn't rain tomorrow, we will go to the dacha.) After не будет the thing that does not happen goes in the genitive (дождя), as with нет.
Aspect in the если-clause
The aspect follows the meaning of the event:
- the perfective for one action that has to be finished or happen once: Если ты прочитаешь книгу, мы обсудим её. (If you read the book, we will discuss it.)
- the imperfective for something that goes on, repeats or is a state: Если ты будешь читать каждый день, ты быстро научишься. (If you read every day, you will learn quickly.)
Aspect works the same way in other tenses; its basic contrast is in Aspect in the past tense.
General conditions and past facts
If the condition is not about one particular future event but about something that is always true, Russian uses the present tense:
- Если вода нагревается до ста градусов, она кипит. (If water is heated to a hundred degrees, it boils.)
- Если я долго сижу за компьютером, у меня болит голова. (If I sit at the computer for a long time, I get a headache.)
A condition about a past fact that the speaker does not know yet takes the past tense:
- Если он это сказал, он ошибся. (If he said that, he was wrong.)
если and когда
Если is used when the event may or may not happen. Когда ("when") presents the event as expected, with only the time open:
- Если я приеду рано, я позвоню. (I may arrive early, or not.)
- Когда я приеду, я позвоню. (I expect to arrive; the question is only when.)
In talk about possibilities, если is the usual word.
Common mistakes
- ❌ Если бы будет дождь, мы останемся дома. → ✅ Если будет дождь, мы останемся дома. (бы belongs to unreal conditions and is not combined with будет)
- ❌ Если ты будешь придти, я буду рад. → ✅ Если ты придёшь, я буду рад. (the perfective future is a single word: придёшь)
- ❌ Если не будет дождь, мы пойдём гулять. → ✅ Если не будет дождя, мы пойдём гулять. (the genitive after не будет)
- ❌ Если ты придёшь то я буду рад. → ✅ Если ты придёшь, то я буду рад. (a comma stands before то as well)
- ❌ Я позвоню если буду свободен. → ✅ Я позвоню, если буду свободен. (a comma separates the clauses when the condition comes second)
Quick check
Which form fits each gap?
- Если завтра ____ холодно, я надену куртку. (быть)
- Если ты ____ мне, я тебе помогу. (позвонить, one action)
- Если ты не ____ меня, я ничего не смогу сделать. (понять, one moment)
- Если вода ____ до нуля градусов, она замерзает. (охлаждаться, always true)
- Я позвоню, ____ у меня будет время. (a condition that may not happen)
Show answers
- будет 2. позвонишь 3. поймёшь 4. охлаждается 5. если
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Key takeaways
- A real condition about the future uses the future tense in both parts: Если завтра будет дождь, мы останемся дома.
- Aspect follows the meaning: perfective for one action, imperfective for a process, a repeated action or a state.
- A negative condition is если не, and after не будет the genitive is used.
- The result can start with an optional то; a comma separates the two parts in either order.
- For things that are always true, the present tense is used in both parts.
- Если is for what may or may not happen, когда for what is expected to happen at some time.
- Unreal "would" conditions with если бы are a separate topic, covered in The conditional/subjunctive mood.
