Word
Если я поеду в другой город, мне понадобится паспорт.
Meaning
If I go to another city, I will need a passport.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Questions & Answers about Если я поеду в другой город, мне понадобится паспорт.
Why is it если, not another word for if?
Если is the normal Russian word for if when introducing a condition:
- Если я поеду... = If I go / If I travel...
It is the standard choice for conditional sentences like this one. In everyday Russian, если is by far the most common way to say if.
Why is it поеду, and what form is that?
Поеду is the 1st person singular future form of поехать.
- поехать = to set off, to go by transport, to travel somewhere
- я поеду = I will go / I will travel
This verb is perfective, so its future is expressed with a single word:
- я поеду
- ты поедешь
- он/она поедет
A native English speaker may wonder why this can translate as both if I go and if I will go. In English, after if, we normally say if I go, not if I will go. Russian still uses a future form here because the action is in the future.
Why is поехать used instead of ехать or идти?