15388
I'm a bit confused about ～としたら and its exact usage. What is the difference
between this and other structures expressing "if" (～なら, たら-form, etc.)?

For example, let's take a sentence from one of my textbooks. If I used ～なら,
does it have the same meaning?

> その話が本当だとしたら、うれしいです。
>
> その話が本当なら、うれしいです。

Another example: do those two sentences express the same?

> ここでライオンに出会ったとしたらどうしますか。
>
> ここでライオンに出会ったらどうしますか。
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2014-04-11T11:39:00.840
15387
2014-04-11T13:24:38.773
2020-06-17T08:18:27.500
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5041
question
grammar
～としたら - when exactly used and what's the difference from other "if" structures
It is mostly about the degree of likelyhood implied regarding the content of
the subordinate clause.

「としたら」 would generally express a lower degree of likelihood in the eyes of the
speaker than 「たら」 or 「なら」 would. The difference, however, is often fairly
subtle in actual usage for many speakers.

You could always lower the degree of likelyhood in question by adding 「もし」 to
any one of the aforementioned expressions.

Thus, your first pair of sentences have nearly the same meaning. As I have
explained, the speaker of the first sentence would be feeling that what he has
heard is less likely to be true than the speaker of the second sentence would
be feeling.

The same can be said about your second pair of sentences. You would say the
first sentence in a place where one would be less likely to encounter a lion
than you would say the second.
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2014-04-11T13:24:38.773
15388
2014-04-11T13:24:38.773
15387
answer