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「帰る **なら** 、窓を閉めなさい！」

I recently asked my teacher about なら being used in this command sentence, and
she said while it was acceptable, it had a different meaning compared to 「帰っ
**たら** 、窓を閉めなさい！」

While the **たら** sentence seems to imply closing the window **after** getting
home, the **なら** sentence implies the reverse: closing the window **before**
going home (from the office, perhaps).

I asked, 「いつも 逆のニュアンス ですか。」 and based on her reply I figured yes, なら always
implies the second half of the sentence occurring before the conditional
clause. (Perhaps either of us misheard or misinterpreted the other person.)

Looking at some of the answers on this website and some example sentences, I
can see that this isn't always the case: なら can be used to mean "If _that's_
what you're talking about..." or similar.

> [Example 1](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/30223/different-
> nuances-in-meaning-for-%E3%81%AA%E3%82%89-sentences)
>
> テープレコーダーを買う **なら** テープをくれるはずです。
>
> (1) If [you] (are going to) buy a tape recorder, [I] expect [them] to give
> [you] tapes. (Statement of expected outcome. Here I would interpret the
> tapes to come with the recorder.)
>
> [Example 2](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/393/differences-
> among-%E3%81%9F%E3%82%89-%E3%81%AA%E3%82%89-%E3%82%93%E3%81%A0%E3%81%A3%E3%81%9F%E3%82%89-%E3%81%88%E3%81%B0-etc)
>
> A: スーパーに行ってくるよ。 I'm going to the supermarket.
>
> B: スーパーに行くの **なら** 、しょうゆを買ってきて。 If you're going to the supermarket, bring
> back some soy sauce.

Am I analysing the sentences above wrongly? When does なら have the 「逆」nuance?
When does it simply mean "If _that's_ what you're talking about..."?
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2016-04-26T07:05:07.083
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2016-04-29T07:18:26.373
2020-06-17T08:18:27.500
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question
grammar nuances conditionals
"Reversal" nuance of なら
The most concise explanation would be:

  * `A なら B` means "if there is an _A_ , there is a _B_ "
  * `A たら B` means "if _A_ is completed, _B_ happens"

なら doesn't really care about the time order. _B_ could take place before,
while, after doing _A_ , or all time during _A_. It just tells "an _A_ must be
accompanied by a _B_ ". In linguistic jargon, なら makes aoristic condition.

> 帰るなら、窓を閉めなさい

The reason why the sentence usually means "close window before you go home" is
because a verb's plain (= non-past) form usually denotes inceptive, e.g. "get
to do", "about to do", "be going to do".

Compared to it, たら is easier to explain in English. It says _B_ happens when
_A_ takes effect, accomplishes, is observed true, or if it's something that
takes some time when it ends... in other words, when _A_ is perfect. In most
cases you can safely translate it as " _B_ after _A_ ".
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answer