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sizenna nihongo no kaiwa ga dekitara, uresii desu.

自然しぜんな　日本語にほんご　の　会話かいわ　が　できたら、　嬉うれしい　です。sizenna nihongo no kaiwa ga dekitara, uresii desu.
If I could have natural conversations in Japanese, I would be happy.
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Questions & Answers about sizenna nihongo no kaiwa ga dekitara, uresii desu.

Who is the subject in this sentence? Why is there no 私 (I) or 僕?

In Japanese, the subject is often omitted when it is clear from context.

In 自然な日本語の会話ができたら、嬉しいです。, the implied subject is usually:

  • 私 (I) – If I could have natural Japanese conversations, I’d be happy.

But depending on the situation, it could also be:

  • 私たち (we) – If we could...
  • あなた (you) – If you could... (for example, a teacher talking to a student)

Japanese relies heavily on context. Adding 私は at the beginning:

  • 私は自然な日本語の会話ができたら、嬉しいです。

is grammatically fine, but often feels unnecessary or a bit heavy unless you really need to emphasize "I (as opposed to someone else)".

What does 自然な mean here exactly? Is it “natural” like “from nature”?

自然な literally comes from 自然 (nature), but in this context it means:

  • natural-sounding, smooth, like a native speaker would say it

So 自然な日本語の会話 means:

  • conversations in Japanese that sound natural and not “textbooky” or awkward.

It does not mean “conversations about nature” or “eco-friendly conversations”. It’s about how the Japanese sounds (natural vs. unnatural), not about the topic.

What is the function of の in 日本語の会話?

Here の is connecting two nouns, working like “of” in English:

  • 日本語の会話 = “conversation in Japanese” / “Japanese conversation”

You can think of patterns like:

  • 英語の本 – English book
  • 日本の文化 – Japanese culture

So:

  • 日本語 (Japanese language) + の + 会話 (conversation)
    → a conversation that is in Japanese.

Grammatically, の here is a possessive/attributive marker: “the conversation that belongs to Japanese (language)”.

Why is it 会話ができる and not 会話をする?
  • 会話をする = “to have a conversation / to converse” (just describing the action)
  • 会話ができる = “to be able to have a conversation / can converse” (expresses ability)

In the sentence:

  • 自然な日本語の会話ができたら、嬉しいです。

the speaker is talking about their ability to hold natural conversations in Japanese, so できる (can do) is more natural than simply する (do).

If you said:

  • 自然な日本語の会話をしたら、嬉しいです。

it would sound more like “If I (happen to) have a natural Japanese conversation, I’ll be happy” — focusing on the event, not on the ability/skill.

Why is the particle が used after 会話, not を?

With できる, the thing you “can do” normally takes が, not を.

  • 日本語ができる – I can (use/speak) Japanese.
  • 料理ができる – I can cook.
  • 会話ができる – I can have a conversation.

So 会話ができる is the standard pattern:
> [Noun] + が + できる = “can do [noun]”

会話をできる is not natural in standard Japanese.

Why is it できたら (past form) if we’re talking about the future/hypothetical?

The たら conditional uses the た-form (past form) plus ら, but it does not necessarily refer to the past. It often marks a condition or when/if something happens.

Pattern:

  • [Verb in た-form] + ら → “if/when [verb]”

Examples:

  • 雨が降ったら、家にいます。 – If/when it rains, I stay home.
  • 日本に行ったら、お寿司を食べたいです。 – When/if I go to Japan, I want to eat sushi.

So:

  • できたら、嬉しいです。
    literally: “If it becomes that I can do it, I’m happy.”
    natural English: “I’d be happy if I could (do it).”

The た here is grammatical, not a real “past time” meaning.

What is the nuance of たら here? How is it different from なら or ～ば?

All of these can mean “if”, but they have different feel/usage.

In this sentence:

  • 自然な日本語の会話ができたら、嬉しいです。

たら suggests a future condition that may or may not happen, often with a somewhat personal, emotional nuance:

  • If I ever reach the point where I can have natural Japanese conversations, I’d be happy.

Rough differences:

  • ～たら: very common, natural, often used for both realistic and hypothetical situations.
  • ～なら: often used when reacting to a stated condition or assumption:
    • 自然な日本語の会話ができるなら、嬉しいです。 = If it’s true that I can have natural Japanese conversations, I’m happy.
  • ～ば: a bit more formal/literary and slightly more abstract:
    • 自然な日本語の会話ができれば、嬉しいです。 (see next question)

In casual speech about your hopes/abilities, ～たら feels very natural.

Could I say できれば instead of できたら? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say:

  • 自然な日本語の会話ができれば、嬉しいです。

This is also correct and natural. The difference in nuance is small:

  • できたら: slightly more concrete / “if I come to be able to do it, then…”
  • できれば: slightly more abstract / conditional, sometimes used with a subtle “it would be nice if…” feel.

In many everyday contexts, できたら and できれば are interchangeable, and both sound fine here.

Why is it 嬉しいです and not 嬉しいだ?

嬉しい is an i-adjective. I-adjectives:

  • can stand alone as a predicate: 嬉しい。 – I’m happy.
  • do not normally take だ directly: 嬉しいだ is wrong.

To make it polite, you add です, not だ:

  • 嬉しいです。 – polite “I’m happy.”

So the pattern is:

  • i-adjective + です → polite predicate
    • 高いです, 静かです, 嬉しいです, etc.
Is it okay to just say 嬉しい without です?

Yes.

  • 嬉しい。 is a normal, casual way to say “I’m happy.”

Levels of politeness:

  • 嬉しい。 – casual (friends, family, close people)
  • 嬉しいです。 – polite (everyday polite speech)

In this full sentence:

  • 自然な日本語の会話ができたら、嬉しいです。 – polite, suitable for talking to teachers, classmates, new acquaintances.
  • 自然な日本語の会話ができたら、嬉しい。 – casual, suitable with friends.

Use 嬉しいです if you’re aiming for standard polite Japanese.

Is the word order fixed? Can I move parts around?

Japanese word order is more flexible than English, especially as long as particles stay with the right words.

Your original:

  • 自然な日本語の会話ができたら、嬉しいです。

Other possible (still natural) orders:

  • 日本語の自然な会話ができたら、嬉しいです。
  • 自然な日本語の会話が、できたら嬉しいです。 (slight emphasis on 会話が)

However, moving できたら to the front like:

  • できたら、自然な日本語の会話が嬉しいです。

changes the meaning and becomes odd (it sounds like “If (I) can, natural Japanese conversation is happy”). So:

  • Keep the conditional できたら right after the part that it applies to: 会話ができたら.
Could I say 自然な日本語で会話ができたら instead of 自然な日本語の会話ができたら?

Yes, you could say:

  • 自然な日本語で会話ができたら、嬉しいです。

Here’s the nuance difference:

  1. 自然な日本語の会話ができたら

    • Literally: “If I can do natural-Japanese conversation”
    • Treats 自然な日本語の会話 as one noun phrase.

  2. 自然な日本語で会話ができたら

    • Literally: “If I can have a conversation in natural Japanese”
    • で here indicates the means / language used.

Both are natural. Many speakers might actually prefer 自然な日本語で会話ができたら, because Xで会話する (“converse in X”) is a very common pattern.

So you can safely use either; the meaning is almost the same.

Does this sentence refer to one specific conversation or to the ability in general?

Even though 会話 is singular in form, in this sentence it refers more to the ability / skill in general than to one specific conversation.

  • 自然な日本語の会話ができたら、嬉しいです。
    → “I’d be happy if I could (in general) have natural conversations in Japanese.”

If you really wanted to refer to a particular conversation, you would normally add some context or a modifier, for example:

  • 自然な日本語の会話が一回でもできたら、嬉しいです。
    – Even if I could have just one natural conversation in Japanese, I’d be happy.

Without such limiting words, Japanese often uses a bare noun like 会話 to talk about the activity or skill in general.