Basic conditional with إذا + past tense: إذا درستَ نجحتَ (if you study, you succeed)
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
إذا درستَ نجحتَ.
If you study, you will succeed.
إذا جاء المطرُ بقينا في البيت.
If it rains, we stay at home.
إذا سألتَ فهمتَ.
If you ask, you will understand.
لو كنتُ غنياً لسافرتُ.
If I were rich, I would travel.
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
The basic Arabic conditional uses إذا (if) + past tense in both clauses, even for present/future meaning.
| Structure | Example |
|---|---|
| إذا + past, past | إذا درستَ نجحتَ |
| If + condition, result | If you study, you succeed |
Key rule: إذا always takes the past tense (ماضٍ), but the meaning is present or future. This is different from English! إذا درستَ = if you study (not 'if you studied').
For unlikely/impossible conditions, Arabic uses لو instead of إذا: لو كنتُ غنياً لسافرتُ (if I were rich, I would travel).
Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises
Practice Exercisesإذا درستَ نجحتَ.
If you study, you will succeed.
إذا + درستَ (you studied — past form!) + نجحتَ (you succeeded — past form!). Both verbs are past tense but the meaning is future.
إذا جاء المطرُ بقينا في البيت.
If it rains, we stay at home.
جاء (came) and بقينا (we stayed) — both past tense after إذا, but meaning is 'if it rains, we'll stay.'
إذا سألتَ فهمتَ.
If you ask, you will understand.
سألتَ (you asked) + فهمتَ (you understood). The past-tense pattern is consistent: condition + result both in past form.
لو كنتُ غنياً لسافرتُ.
If I were rich, I would travel.
لو (if — unlikely) vs إذا (if — likely). لو كنتُ (if I were) + لـ + سافرتُ. The لـ prefix before the result clause is common with لو.
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises