---
title: "(如果/要是)…的话 in Chinese Grammar: If …, With Examples"
description: "(如果/要是)…的话: if …. …的话 marks a condition, often with 如果/要是. 2 real lines from stories, each word explained."
canonical: "https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/ruguo-dehua"
author: "Mandarin The Wild"
---

[Chinese grammar](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar)

# (如果/要是)…的话

If …

竹笋zhúsǔnbamboo shoot

…的话 marks a condition, often with 如果/要是.

## In stories

**要是觉得不能打，就快点儿听曹操的话**吧。”

If you think you can't, then hurry up and do what Cao Cao says."

[舌战群儒 · Zhuge Liang Against the Scholars](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/zhuge-liang-against-the-scholars-three-kingdoms-easy-chinese-11#library-word-432-449) HSK 3

谁**要是忘了今天的话**，就让老天惩罚他！”

If any of us forgets today's words, may heaven punish him!"

[桃园结义 · The Oath in the Peach Garden](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/oath-in-the-peach-garden-three-kingdoms-intermediate-chinese-1#library-word-786-794) HSK 5

## Your turn

Write your own sentence with (如果/要是)…的话. It's checked, and you'll see if the pattern is there.

[Read 舌战群儒](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/zhuge-liang-against-the-scholars-three-kingdoms-easy-chinese-11#library-word-432-449)

## More patterns

- […的时候 when …](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/de-shihou)
- [是…的 (emphasis) it was … that (stresses when, where, how or who)](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/shi-de)
- [如果/要是…就… if …, then …](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/ruguo-jiu)
- [像…一样/似的 like …; as … as …](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/xiang-yiyang)
- [于是 so; and so; thereupon](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/yushi)
- [不如 would be better to; not as good as](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/buru)

## Now read them in a real story

[**十两饺子**How to order dumplings in ChineseHSK 1 · 1 minRead it free](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/how-to-order-dumplings-in-chinese)

## What does (如果/要是)…的话 mean in Chinese?

If …. …的话 marks a condition, often with 如果/要是.

## How common is (如果/要是)…的话?

It comes up in 2 readings of the 462 stories and articles in our free Library.

## Does it correct my mistakes?

The finder doesn’t: it shows which patterns a text uses and what each one does. To have a sentence you wrote corrected, with each mistake explained, use the Chinese grammar checker.

## More free tools

- [Chinese grammar checker](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar-checker): your mistakes fixed
- [Chinese dictionary](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-dictionary)
- [Measure words](https://mandarinthewild.com/measure-words)
- [How hard is this text?](https://mandarinthewild.com/text-level)
- [Free Chinese stories](https://mandarinthewild.com/library)

Patterns found by our own parser; lines from our free Library.