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From what I've learned when you used verb + たら, you are saying an if
condition. While reading I came across:

起きたら生えてたの which I interpretate as "When I woke up, (they) had (already) grew."

Is this correct? sometimes たら or others conditionals works as "when"?
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2022-10-28T01:58:45.687
96883
2022-10-28T03:03:35.753
54818
question
grammar verbs conditionals
Doubt about the たら conditional
The ～たら ending does indeed also serve as "when", not just "if". One of my
Japanese teachers years ago explained this as a contraction from ～てから. While
that fits for the meaning, my research over the years into Japanese
etymologies suggests that this isn't the derivation.

The ～と conditional could sometimes also be translated as "when".

  * 起きる **[と]{●}** 二日酔いになっているはず  
I expect you'll have a hangover **when** you wake up.

The ～えば conditional does not have any such "when" connotations.
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2022-10-28T02:12:58.213
96884
2022-10-28T02:56:08.593
2022-10-28T02:56:08.593
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answer
Whether to translate it as “when” or “if” is due to a distinction English
makes and has little to do with Japanese.

たら focuses on a state where some event has just completed. If that event is
hypothetical, “if” would be more appropriate. In your case, the main clause
talks about something the speaker actually found out at some point in the
past. Then the completed event of her waking up cannot be hypothetical.

I think the term “conditional” is misleading.
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2022-10-28T03:03:35.753
96887
2022-10-28T03:03:35.753
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answer