如果...的话

[laser2302]

Hi guys, i've been learning Chinese for sometime now and I don't understand the proper usage of 如果...的话, like in the sentence given below:

那你拿去吧，如果你一定要用的话

and

所以如果你在生意交往中遇到，啊，有少数民族的朋友的话

Can anyone please tell me what's the point of putting 的话 after 如果 and in what situation you use 的话 with 如果. I know that 如果 means "if", but what is 的话 and can't we only use 如果 every time (that is without 的话)

Thankyou

[Lu]

As far as I know:

- you can always put 的話 on the end of a 如果 sentence.

- there is not really a point, that's just what people say, part of the language. 如果 means if, 如果...的話 also means if. 的話 in itself can also mean if, if I'm not mistaken.

[dotherighthing]

如果。。。的话 very close to if ..... then

normally that can be only used at composite sentences, for example,

if you like this labtop, then you can take it with you

如果你喜欢这个笔记本电脑（的话），你可以带走

Here, you can use 的话 or just ignore it, both are fine and proper. among our native speakers, with 的话, it seems more informal and casual. in written, we normally will not use 的话. of course there are always different preferences.

hope that will help u

[HashiriKata]

如果 and 的话, either can be used to mean "if". When used together, they re-inforce each other but mean just the same.

[tanhql]

sometimes 的话 is used without 如果, especially in conversation, but still means the same thing.

如果你喜欢这个笔记本电脑的话，你可以带走

如果你喜欢这个笔记本电脑，你可以带走

你喜欢这个笔记本电脑的话，你可以带走

你喜欢这个笔记本电脑，你可以带走

the last example requires the context to show that it is a conditional sentence.

[zozzen]

I often omit either one to reduce redundancy.

如果你喜歡, 大可省略那個冗字.

But my favorite one is 要是.

要是你喜歡, 大可省略「如果」這句式.

[laser2302]

Thanks a lot everyone, now I understand very well about it's usage.

[Ari 桑]

Its a good informal thing, often filling a nice space at the end of the sentance.

[Ofriendragon]

In written Chinese, delete "的话"。

如果你不喜欢我（的话），咱们分手吧。

In most cases, "的话" is redundant.

[nipponman]

Also, whenever I used 如果 to mean if, my teacher would agree but look at me funny. Then she told me it is more colloquial to use yao4 shi5 instead. Just thought u should know

[ChinsonTan]

如果"的话"不跟在"如果"后面的话那也还是"如果...的话",haha

In fact, "如果...的话"="如果"

you can use any of them when you mean " if " .

[Dani_man]

One day I was talking with a Chinese guy about Mandarin, he said something like

如果你学普通话的话...

In the middle of the sentence he realized that it would sound funny like that, but it was too late... so his 的话 was in a kind of low voice, tried to dim it on the spot...

Just saying -

-It's very very much of 口语 to use it. They use it automatically.

-Sometimes you shouldn't t use it! (like in the example above )