I know "如果"is paired with "那麼" for an "if...then sentence", but can "如果"also be paired with "然後"?

[Rhuang]

I know "如果"is paired with "那麼" for an "if...then sentence", but can "如果"also be paired with "然後"?

[alvinchang90]

I might be able to help you. It's abit hard to form sentences using 如果 and 然后:

如果你把这信封交给他, 然后他会把咱们要的箱子交给你。

Need others to confirm.

[tooironic]

No. 然後 means 'then' as in 'after that'. 'If... after that...' wouldn't make sense in English either.

[Tiana]

Post #2 is right. So, the natural partner for "然後" to pair with is some word like "先":

"先..., 然後..." (First do X, then do Y)

[陳德聰]

如果你学会用“如果”，然后去学会用“然后”，差不多就可以毕业了~

 

然后 means "and then", not just "then".

 

I think the appropriate pairings should be:

 

如果... 就...

if ... then ...

 

and

 

(首先... 其次)... 然后...

(first... second)... and then...

[Tiana]

I think the appropriate pairings should be:

 

如果... 就...

if ... then ...

 

 

What do you mean by that? This 就 is the 3rd "then" in this thread, and can often combine with 那么 to yield 如果...那么...就...:

如果你不会说中文，那么找工作就很困难。

[陳德聰]

I don't think "often" is the word I would use. I would consider 就 more commonly occurring than 那么 in "if ... then ..." sentences simply by way of the fact that you can omit 那么 in 100% of the sentences while keeping 就, but if you omit the 就 in a sentence that contains 那么, you will sometimes get something that sounds odd or less preferable:

 

如果你不会说中文，那么找工作很困难

vs.

如果你不会说中文，找工作就很困难

[Rhuang]

so people don't really use "ru guo" and "ran hou" together?

[anonymoose]

What makes you think that 如果 and 然后 should be used together? Did you see an example like this?

 

They are not a natural pair. However, 然后 could be used incidentally as part of the condition phrase (as in the example in #5).

[OneEye]

OP, did you see the explanation above, that 然後 means "then" not in the sense of "if...then...", but in the sense of "after that"? It's important to keep different senses of a word separate, because they will almost never map 1:1 to a foreign language. Cause/result "then" is not the same as sequential "then", and though they may be the same word in English, they're not in Chinese.

[Rhuang]

that is one of the struggles of learning a different language, but thank you! That's very helpful to know. All this time i've used "ran hou" wrong!

[Tiana]

I don't think "often" is the word I would use. I would consider 就 more commonly occurring than 那么 in "if ... then ..." sentences simply by way of the fact that you can omit 那么 in 100% of the sentences while keeping 就, but if you omit the 就 in a sentence that contains 那么, you will sometimes get something that sounds odd or less preferable:

 

如果你不会说中文，那么找工作很困难

vs.

如果你不会说中文，找工作就很困难

 

 

 

天啊！

 

I don't think you understand what I was saying. I was not saying that 那么and就 are alternatives in pairing with如果. By saying 就 being the 3rd "then" in the thread, I mean 就 is different from 那么, and this can even be seen by your examples here. The two are not simply alternatives of each other. Here are some further examples, where you just can't use one in place of the other:

(如果那么)

如果你健康状况不佳，那么应慢慢开始锻炼。

如果很难获得实物证据，那么照片也可以。

 

(如果就)

如果你努力就能够做到。

如果有人早到，就让他们等会儿。

 

Since my point is that 就 and 那么 are not the same, I went so far as additionally pointing out that you can see them together in one sentence (see again my example in the previous post), and not equivalent alternatives as you were trying to show in your examples.

[Tiana]

So, for the benefit of learners, here is a brief differentiation of the three "then" encountered in this thread:

 

1. 然后: as already pointed out by others above, this "then" has the sense of "and then", and has nothing to do with the conditional 如果, even if it can be found in 如果 sentences. 

On the other hand, the following two "then" are natural parts of the 如果 structure:

 

2. 如果 = If (something is as desired, expected), then use 就.

3. 如果 = If (something is not quite as desired, expected), then use 那么.

As already said, this is a brief distinction intended as a rough guide and so, do expect exceptions.

[陳德聰]

When your post is literally two sentences long, I wonder how you thought you were expressing all that.

[歐博思]

如果你（先）把我充電器還了，然後（再）給我把這瓶水一口氣喝完了，那麼我就可以考慮一下。

 

You can use them concurrently, but they belong to different grammar patterns.