Russian conditionals: How to form if-then sentences in Russian?

In Russian, we form if-then sentences (a.k.a. “conditional sentences”) using two parts: a condition (the if-clause) and the consequence (the result clause) – just like in English. For example:

There are two types of conditional sentences in Russian: with a real condition and with an unreal, or hypothetical, condition. There are grammar patterns associated with each of the two types, so let’s find out more about how they work.

The condition is “real” when the speaker believes it might realistically be met some time in the past, present, or future. The result is believed to be possible and feasible, too, for example:

• Если ты хоть раз видел гризли в зоопарке, ты не захочешь встретиться с ним в лесу.

  YESli ty khot ras VEEdil GREEZli v zaaPARkye ty ni zaKHOchesh FSTRYEtitsa s nim v liSOO.

  If you have ever seen a grizzly in a zoo, you won’t want to see it in a forest.

  → The speaker thinks it’s quite possible that you have seen a grizzly in a zoo.

• Если хочешь, пойдём в кино?

  YESli KHOchesh payDYOM f kiNOO?

  If you want, let’s go to a movie?

  → The speaker believes it’s possible that you may want to go see a movie.

• Если мы опоздаем, нас могут не пустить.

  YESli my apaZDAyem nas MOgoot ni poosTEET.

  If we are late, we might not be allowed in.

  → It’s possible, from the speaker’s perspective, that we’ll be late.

Conditional sentences with real conditions typically have the following structure:

Some notes:

• Если[YESli](if, since) is a conjunction of condition.

• То[to](then) is an optional element at the beginning of the result clause.

• In Russian, both clauses can be used with any tense (past, present, or future), as well as with infinitives and other grammar structures.

• Just like in English, in Russian the conditional clause does not always come at the beginning of the sentence. But just like in English, we only use то[to](then) when the if-clause comes first.

Here are some examples of conditional sentences with a real condition:

• present tensefuture tense

  Если хочешь, (то) я научу тебя плавать.

  YESli KHOchesh (to) ya naooCHOO tiBYA PLAvat.

  If you want, (then) I will teach you how to swim.

• future tensefuture tense

  Ты cможешь, если захочешь, научиться плавать за два часа.

  ty MOZhesh YESli zaKHOchesh naooCHEEtsa PLAvat za dva chiSA.

  You can, if you want, learn how to swim in two hours.

• present tenseinfinitive

  Можно научиться плавать за два часа, если очень захотеть.

  MOZHna naooCHEEtsa PLAvat za dva chiSA YESli Ochen zakhaTYET.

  It’s possible to learn how to swim in two hours, if one really wants to.

• past tensepresent tense

  Если ты плавал здесь прошлым летом, (то) знаешь, что вода всегда холодная.

  YESli ty PLAval zdyes PROSHlym LYEtam (to) ZNAyesh shto vaDA fsigDA khaLODnaya.

  If you swam here last summer, (then) you know that the water is always cold.

Sometimes instead of using a verb in each clause, you can just use a noun:

Although если… (то)… is the most common way to say “if… then” in Russian, there are conjunctions of condition, too.

• раз[ras](if/since) is a colloquial synonym to если that is popular in everyday speech.

• значит[ZNAchit](therefore/then) can be used instead of то.

For instance:

• Ну раз не хочешь, (то) я не буду учить тебя плавать.

  noo ras ni KHOchesh (to) ya nye BOOdoo ooCHEET tiBYA PLAvat.

  If you don’t want to, (then) I won’t teach you how to swim.

• Если он умеет плавать баттерфляем, (значит) он и правда спортсмен.

  YESli on ooMYEit PLAvat baterFLYAyem (ZNAchit) on i PRAVda spartsMYEN.

  If he can swim butterfly style, (then) he is really a sportsman.

An “unreal” conditional in Russian is a conditional sentence where the speaker believes it is unlikely the condition was, will be, or is being met. The result of such a condition is, therefore, also imaginary or hypothetical. For example:

• Если бы мне сейчас было 20 лет, я бы пошёл учиться на врача.

  YESli by mnye siCHAS BYla DVAtsat lyet ya by paSHOL ooCHEEtsa na vraCHA.

  If I were 20 years old now, I would train to be a doctor.

  → The speaker is not 20 years old now, and so this discussion is simply hypothetical.

• Если бы завтра была суббота, я бы проспала до обеда.

  YESli by ZAFTra byLA sooBOTa ya by praspaLA da aBYEda.

  If it was Saturday tomorrow, I would sleep until lunchtime.

  → It’s not Saturday tomorrow, so this discussion is purely hypothetical.

• Если бы Хиллари Клинтон выиграла выборы, она стала бы первой женщиной - президентом США.

  YESli by KHEElari KLEENtan VYgrala VYbary aNA STAla by PYERvay ZHENshchinay pryeziDYENtam sesheA.

  If Hillary Clinton had won the election, she would have become the first female US president.

  → She did not win the election, and did not become the first female US president.

The basic structure for conditional sentences with unreal conditions in Russian is this:

As you can see, the same conjunction, если… (то), is used, but with an unreal condition it must be accompanied by the particle бы[by] and the past tense in both clauses.

This is actually one instance of the subjunctive mood in Russian which is a grammatical structure with бы + past tense used for talking about hypothetical situations, wishes, proposals, and suggestions.

Therefore, the use of the past tense here does not mean the hypothetical situation and its consequences can only be in the past, it means simply that the situation is not real. The context will tell you what time the speaker actually refers to.

The particle бы should be used directly after если in the conditional clause, and usually either after the subject (most common) or after the verb in the result clause.

Here are a few more examples to illustrate the unreal condition in Russian:

• past tensepast tense

  Моцарт, наверное, написал бы ещё много гениальной музыки, если бы не умер так рано.

  MOtsart naVYERnaye napiSAL by iSHCHO MNOga giniALnay MOOzyli YESli by ni OOmyer tak RAna.

  Mozart would have probably written more brilliant music had he not died so early.

• past tensepast tense

  Вот если б у меня была такая машина, (то) я б ни за что её не продал!

  vot YESli b oo miNYA byLA taKAya maSHYna (to) ya b ni za shto yiYO ni praDAL!

  If I had a car like this, there is no way I would ever sell it!

• past tensepast tense

  А ты, если бы выигралв лотерею, на что бы потратил выигрыш?

  a ty YESli by VYgral v latyRYEyu na shto by paTRAtil VYgrysh?

  And you, if you won a lottery, what would (you) spend the money on?

In everyday speech, two other sentence structures are also commonly used to express unreal conditions.

• Using a change in word order instead of если:

  Conditional Clause:
  past tense + бы + subject

  Result Clause:
  бы + past tense

  • past tense verbpast tense verb

    Был бы я помоложе, я бы подал заявку на этот грант.

    byl by ya pamaLOZhe ya by paDAL zaTAFkoo na Etat grant.

    Were I younger, I would apply for this grant.

  • past tense verbpast tense verb

    Знал бы он об этом раньше, не пошёл бы туда.

    znal by on ab Etam RANshe ni paSHOL by tooDA.

    Had he known about it earlier, he wouldn’t have gone there.

• Using the imperative mood:

  Conditional Clause:
  singular imperative + subject

  Result Clause:
  бы + past tense

  The singular form of the imperative is used in the conditional clause, but unlike a real imperative, which is used for giving commands, the imperative form used in unreal conditionals does not change its form depending on whether the subject is singular or plural. For example:

  • singular imperativepast tense

    Будья помоложе, я бы подал заявку на этот грант.

    boot ya pamaLOZhe ya by paDAL zaTAFkoo na Etat grant.

    If I were younger, I would apply for this grant.

  • singular imperativepast tense

    Знай он об этом раньше, не пошёл бы туда.

    znay on ab Etam RANshe ni paSHOL by tooDA.

    If he had known about it earlier, he wouldn’t have gone there.

  Important

  If he had known about it earlier, he wouldn’t have gone there.

  • Real Conditional:

    Если я разбогатею, я буду много путешествовать.

    YESli ya razbagaTYEyu ya BOOdoo MNOga pootiSHEstvavat.

    If I get rich, I will travel a lot.

  • Unreal Conditional:

    Если бы я разбогател, я бы много путешествовал.

    YESli by ya razbagaTYEL ya by MNOga pootiSHEstvaval.

    If I got rich, I would travel a lot.

  Tip

  There are a few archaic conjunctions of condition in Russian, which are rarely used in modern Russian, like ежели[YEzhyli](if) or коль[kol](if). One of them, кабы[KAby], however, is used in a popular idiom:

  если бы да кабы

  YeSli by da kaBY

  if ifs and ands were pots and pans; if wishes were fishes

  lit. if and if

  → used to say that something is only imaginary with no chance to be real

In this post we showed how conditional sentences work in Russian. There are two types of conditionals in Russian:

• Real conditionals, when the basic sentence structure looks like если…, (то)…

• Unreal conditionals, which use the subjunctive mood, when the basic sentence structure is если бы + verb in past tense, (то)… бы + verb in past tense

Now it’s time to make your own conditional sentences in Russian! Download the activities below. Or review the different conjunctions we discussed in this post by downloading the Russian conjunctions master sheet!