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In one section of the JLPT N3 practice test the next is written

妹：「今日は友達と晩ご飯を食べてくるね。」

兄：「わかった。九時過ぎるようなら、迎えに行くから、電話しろよ。」

Why is a conditional being used here?

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    Are you asking what it means? Or are you asking why it isn't a different conditional? If you think なら doesn't work for some reason, can you explain why you came to that conclusion? It will help the answerer get to the core of the issue.
    – Leebo
    Commented Oct 30, 2019 at 22:38

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You ask why a conditional is being used here, but I'm not quite sure why it doesn't sound right to you.

なら is being used here in the same sense as "if" in English. ～ようなら is sort of a set phrase used in a similar sense to "if it seems like", with ～よう meaning "seem like"/"looks like". We also say ～ようだったら.

わかった。 → Cool. / Got it. / Alright.

九時過ぎるよう → It seems like it will go past 9:00

なら → if (that seems to be the case)

迎えに行くから → Because I'll go pick you up

電話しろよ → Call me.

So, putting it all together:

"Alright. If it seems like it(your dinner)'s gonna go past 9:00, call me. I'll pick you up."

The conditional is used here to express that the 兄 only wants his 妹 to call him so he can pick her up under the condition that her dinner seems like it's going to go later than 9:00, presumably because he's worried for her safety at night, but could be for a multitude of other reasons.

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  • ありがとうございます. Now I get why the conditional is being used; sorry, I hadn't thought of that, thank you .
    – ラゴズ
    Commented Oct 31, 2019 at 1:19

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