אם ירד גשם מחר, אני אסע באוטובוס.

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Breakdown of אם ירד גשם מחר, אני אסע באוטובוס.

• מחר: tomorrow
• לנסוע: to go
• ב: by

Questions & Answers about אם ירד גשם מחר, אני אסע באוטובוס.

What does אם mean here?

Here אם means if and introduces a condition.

A useful extra note: אם can also mean whether in other sentences, but in this sentence it clearly means if.

Why does Hebrew use a future verb after אם? In English we say if it rains, not if it will rain.

That is a very common question. In Hebrew, a real future condition normally uses the future tense after אם:

• אם ירד גשם מחר = if it rains tomorrow
• literally closer to if rain will fall tomorrow

So Hebrew and English handle this differently:

• English: If it rains tomorrow, I'll go by bus.
• Hebrew: אם ירד גשם מחר, אני אסע באוטובוס.

Do not copy the English tense pattern into Hebrew here.

Why is ירד read as future here? Doesn't ירד also mean went down in the past?