Если ты опоздаешь, тогда я буду ждать в парке.

If you are late, then I will wait in the park.

Breakdown of Если ты опоздаешь, тогда я буду ждать в парке.

• я: I
• парк: the park
• в: in
• если: if

Questions & Answers about Если ты опоздаешь, тогда я буду ждать в парке.

Why does Russian use the future tense in both parts instead of something like the English present tense (“If you are late, I will wait…”)?

In Russian, future events are usually expressed with future tense in both clauses, even when English uses a present tense in the if-clause.

• English: If you are late, I will wait…
• Russian: Если ты опоздаешь, я буду ждать…

Using present tense in the Russian если-clause (Если ты опаздываешь) would not mean the same thing; it would sound more like a general or ongoing situation (“If you are (generally) late…”), not a single future event.

So for a specific future condition, Russian normally uses:

• Если + future → то/тогда + future
  as in the sentence you gave.

What’s the difference between если and когда here? Could I say Когда ты опоздаешь… instead?