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Consider the following two sentences,

  1. 仕{し}事{ごと}が早{はや}く終{お}わったら行きます。
  2. 仕{し}事{ごと}が早{はや}く終{お}われば行きます。

Is there any difference between them?

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3 Answers 3

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There are few chances you could sense the difference outside some edge cases but, yes, they have a little difference such as...

AたらB literally comes from "When A is over, then B", so it could imply that A has higher probability to be satisfied. A(れ)ばB, on the other hand, doesn't get along with an A happens as matter of course.

明日起きたら電話します。 (Fine.)

明日起きれば電話します。 (Won't you get up tomorrow!?)

AたらB can describe a one-off event, where AればB indicates general condition.

天国に行ったら何をしますか？ (Fine.)

天国に行けば何をしますか？ (Are you going to heaven every vacation!?)

(Note: judgements may vary among speakers, see the discussion below.)

As an aside, たら is not formal language. You should use -たならば in those settings.

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    @eltonjohn 「明日起きたら～」: That's simply because たら allows both "iffy" reading and "consequence" reading, which れば doesn't. 「俺、戦争が～」: Could you further clarify, for I can't imagine what you're concerning about.
    – broccoli forest
    Jul 8, 2015 at 6:29
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    "戦争が終われば結婚する" can imply "戦争が終わらないので結婚しない/できない”. As I said, you need context to include/exclude that possibility.
    – eltonjohn
    Jul 8, 2015 at 7:05
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    @eltonjohn Maybe I'm still not getting your point, but if you say 「戦争が終われば結婚する」, it sounds like either you 結婚 each time a war ends, or 結婚 is something automatically happens even you don't wish or do. However, if you change the verb into 結婚できる, then れば sounds perfect as well.
    – broccoli forest
    Jul 8, 2015 at 9:11
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    後者の例は個人的には前者の例と同様に、「戦争が終われば結婚するつもりだ（けど、戦争が終わるかどうかは分からない）」という風に読めました。「戦争が終わるたびに毎回結婚する」という解釈は思い付きませんでした。
    – naruto
    Jul 8, 2015 at 10:00
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    @naruto & eltonjohn もしかしたら想定している状況が違ったのかもしれません。例えば、「俺、この戦争が終われば今の彼女と結婚するんだ」という文は自然に聞こえますか？また「天国に行けば何をしますか」というのはどうですか？両方とも言える、というのであればちょっと考えないといけないですね…
    – broccoli forest
    Jul 8, 2015 at 11:35
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They have exactly the same meaning, namely "I will go (there) if I finish the task early."

Some may argue that 仕事が早く終われば sounds a bit more formal, though.

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  • +1 and I am still waiting for other answers if any. It is my policy. Thank you.
    – Friendly Ghost
    Jul 8, 2015 at 4:58
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    This is answer is incorrect. The 〜ば and 〜たら conditional forms carry different nuances as broccoli forest has pointed out.
    – paullb
    Jul 8, 2015 at 9:05
  • @paullb: <The 〜ば and 〜たら conditional forms carry different nuances> No. They can carry different nuances, but that depends on the context.
    – eltonjohn
    Jul 8, 2015 at 10:09
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I think what happened here is that eltonjohn and broccoli forest answered two different questions.

Consider the following two sentences,

1.​仕事が​早く​終​わったら行きます。

2.​仕事​が​早​く​終​われば行きます。

Is there any difference between them?

eltonjohn says...

They have exactly the same meaning, namely "I will go (there) if I finish the task early."
Some may argue that 仕事が早く終われば sounds a bit more formal, though.

I believe this is 100% correct.

However, broccoli forest says...

There are few chances you could sense the difference outside some edge cases but, yes, they have a little difference such as...

AたらB literally comes from "When A is over, then B", so it could imply that A has higher probability to be satisfied. A(れ)ばB, on the other hand, doesn't get along with an A happens as matter of course.

This is also 100% correct.

How?

Because eltonjohn is talking about the specific example given, while broccoli forest is talking about the difference between たら and えば in general.

えば is more hypothetical than たら, but when you add the qualifier 早く, you're automatically taking the statement into hypothetical terrain, thus negating the difference between the two.

In other words...

1.​仕事が​終​わったら行きます。

2.​仕事​が​​終​われば行きます。

... are slightly different in that in 1., the job finishing is practically a given, while the same can't be said for 2. (maybe I'll finish, maybe I won't)

BUT...

1.​仕事が​早く​終​わったら行きます。

2.​仕事​が​早​く​終​われば行きます。

In neither case is the job finishing soon a given - just adding the qualifier 早く kills any distinction.

Think about it:

仕事が​​終​わったら行きます can be translated as "I'll go once the job is done", whereas 仕事が​早く​終​わったら行きます has to be translated something like "I'll go provided I finish the job quickly."

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