Supposing: the written conditional 倘若
倘若 is a written equivalent of 如果. It introduces a supposed condition, and the result clause takes 就, 便 or 那么 — never 所以, which is for causes that are already true.
Structure
倘若 + 条件，（主语）+ 就／便 + 结果 ｜ 倘若 + 条件，那么 + 结果
Explanation
Chinese words in this text can be activated to show a dictionary gloss.
works exactly like but belongs to a higher register: notices, letters, essays, reported speech. ， “Should it rain tomorrow, the match will be moved to next week.” In conversation the same sentence would use or .
The condition clause comes first. can stand before or after its subject ( or ), the first being much more common. In the result clause, and are adverbs and therefore come after the subject: ，, not …. , by contrast, is a conjunction and stands at the head of the clause.
The classic error is to answer with . draws a conclusion from a cause that is true; describes something that has not happened. ， mixes the two. A second error is placing before the subject of the result clause.
shares the scheme of every Chinese conditional — condition first, then a result marked by — so anything that is wrong with is also wrong with .
Correct
Say each one out loud before moving on. The audio is a reference pronunciation, not a model to imitate exactly — match the tone contour, not the voice.
倘若明天下雨，比赛就改到下周举行。倘若明天下雨，比賽就改到下週舉行。
Tǎngruò (third tone, dipping) míngtiān (second tone, rising) xià (fourth tone, falling) yǔ, (third tone, dipping) bǐsài (third tone, dipping) jiù (fourth tone, falling) gǎi (third tone, dipping) dào (fourth tone, falling) xià (fourth tone, falling) zhōu (first tone, high and level) jǔxíng. (third tone, dipping)···
Should it rain tomorrow, the match will be moved to next week.
倘若你有什么困难，可以随时联系我们。倘若你有什麼困難，可以隨時聯繫我們。
Tǎngruò (third tone, dipping) nǐ (third tone, dipping) yǒu (third tone, dipping) shénme (second tone, rising) kùnnan, (fourth tone, falling) kěyǐ (third tone, dipping) suíshí (second tone, rising) liánxì (second tone, rising) wǒmen. (third tone, dipping)···
Should you have any difficulty, you may contact us at any time.
倘若没有大家的帮助，这项工作便不可能这么快完成。倘若沒有大家的幫助，這項工作便不可能這麼快完成。
Tǎngruò (third tone, dipping) méiyǒu (second tone, rising) dàjiā (fourth tone, falling) de (neutral tone) bāngzhù, (first tone, high and level) zhè (fourth tone, falling) xiàng (fourth tone, falling) gōngzuò (first tone, high and level) biàn (fourth tone, falling) bù (fourth tone, falling) kěnéng (third tone, dipping) zhème (fourth tone, falling) kuài (fourth tone, falling) wánchéng. (second tone, rising)···
Without everyone’s help, this work could never have been finished so quickly.
Incorrect — Common mistakes
These sentences are wrong. They are printed here on purpose, each one paired with the repair and the reason, because the error you can recognise is the error you stop making.
Not quite
Incorrect sentence: 倘若你明天有时间，所以我们一起去吧。
Correct
Correct sentence: 倘若你明天有时间，我们就一起去吧。
Why: 倘若 introduces a supposition, and its result takes 就, not 所以.
Not quite
Incorrect sentence: 倘若你不同意，就你可以提出来。
Correct
Correct sentence: 倘若你不同意，你就可以提出来。
Why: 就 is an adverb and follows the subject of the result clause.
Not quite
Incorrect sentence: 倘若天气好，便我们出发。
Correct
Correct sentence: 倘若天气好，我们便出发。
Why: 便 behaves like 就: after the subject, before the verb.
Compared with
Most errors with this pattern are not errors about this pattern — they are a neighbouring pattern arriving at the wrong moment. Read these side by side.
如果 and 倘若 mean the same thing and take the same 就. The difference is register: 如果 suits every situation, while 倘若 sounds written or formal. In an essay or a formal notice 倘若 fits; in a text message to a friend it would sound stiff.
If: 如果…（的话），就… →Mini quiz
Question 1 / 3Total score: 0
Choose the word for the gap.
___ 有什么问题，请及时告诉我们。