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Consider the following two sentences,

  1. 仕{し}事{ごと}が早{はや}く終{お}わったら行きます。
  2. 仕{し}事{ごと}が早{はや}く終{お}われば行きます。

Is there any difference between them?
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2015-07-08T04:07:36.613
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2016-05-19T17:04:43.337
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question
meaning
Is there any difference between 早く終われば and 早く終わったら?
They have exactly the same meaning, namely "I will go (there) if I finish the
task early."

Some may argue that 仕事が早く終われば sounds a bit more formal, though.
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2015-07-08T04:48:35.660
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2015-07-08T10:48:31.273
2015-07-08T10:48:31.273
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answer
There are few chances you could sense the difference outside some edge cases
but, yes, they have a little difference such as...

`AたらB` literally comes from "When A is over, then B", so it could imply that A
has higher probability to be satisfied. `A(れ)ばB`, on the other hand, doesn't
get along with an A happens as matter of course.

> 明日起き **たら** 電話します。 (Fine.)
>
> 明日起き **れば** 電話します。 (Won't you get up tomorrow!?)

`AたらB` can describe a one-off event, where `AればB` indicates general condition.

> 天国に行っ **たら** 何をしますか？ (Fine.)
>
> 天国に行 **けば** 何をしますか？ (Are you going to heaven every vacation!?)

(Note: judgements may vary among speakers, see the discussion below.)

As an aside, `たら` is not formal language. You should use `-たならば` in those
settings.
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2015-07-08T05:50:22.837
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2015-07-09T04:32:15.230
2020-06-17T08:18:27.500
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answer
I think what happened here is that eltonjohn and broccoli forest answered two
different questions.

Consider the following two sentences,

> 1.​仕事が​早く​終​わったら行きます。
>
> 2.​仕事​が​早​く​終​われば行きます。

Is there any difference between them?

eltonjohn says...

> They have exactly the same meaning, namely "I will go (there) if I finish
> the task early."  
>  Some may argue that 仕事が早く終われば sounds a bit more formal, though.

I believe this is 100% correct.

However, broccoli forest says...

> There are few chances you could sense the difference outside some edge cases
> but, yes, they have a little difference such as...
>
> AたらB literally comes from "When A is over, then B", so it could imply that A
> has higher probability to be satisfied. A(れ)ばB, on the other hand, doesn't
> get along with an A happens as matter of course.

This is also 100% correct.

How?

Because eltonjohn is talking about the specific example given, while broccoli
forest is talking about the difference between たら and えば in general.

えば _is_ more hypothetical than たら, **but when you add the qualifier 早く** ,
you're automatically taking the statement into hypothetical terrain, thus
negating the difference between the two.

In other words...

> 1.​仕事が​終​わったら行きます。
>
> 2.​仕事​が​​終​われば行きます。

... are slightly different in that in 1., the job finishing is practically a
given, while the same can't be said for 2. (maybe I'll finish, maybe I won't)

**BUT...**

> 1.​仕事が​早く​終​わったら行きます。
>
> 2.​仕事​が​早​く​終​われば行きます。

In neither case is the job finishing _soon_ a given - just adding the
qualifier 早く kills any distinction.

Think about it:

仕事が​​終​わったら行きます can be translated as "I'll go once the job is done", whereas
仕事が​早く​終​わったら行きます _has_ to be translated something like "I'll go provided I
finish the job quickly."
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answer