Если бы у нас не осталось плова, я бы быстро приготовил котлеты из говядины.

If we had not had any pilaf left, I would have quickly made beef cutlets.

Breakdown of Если бы у нас не осталось плова, я бы быстро приготовил котлеты из говядины.

• я: I
• не: not
• приготовить: to prepare
• мы: we

Questions & Answers about Если бы у нас не осталось плова, я бы быстро приготовил котлеты из говядины.

Why is бы used here, and why does it appear twice?

Бы is the particle that helps form the conditional mood in Russian, similar to would in English.

In this sentence:

• Если бы у нас не осталось плова = If we had no pilaf left
• я бы быстро приготовил котлеты из говядины = I would quickly make beef cutlets

Russian often uses бы in both parts of this kind of unreal/hypothetical sentence:

• in the if-clause
• and in the main clause

That is very normal.

Compare:

• Если бы он пришёл, я бы поговорил с ним.
• If he came / had come, I would talk / have talked with him.

In English, would usually does not appear in the if-clause, but in Russian бы often does.

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What is the difference between если and если бы?

Если by itself usually introduces a real or possible condition:

• Если у нас не останется плова, я приготовлю котлеты.
• If we have no pilaf left, I will make cutlets.

This sounds like a real future possibility.

Если бы introduces an unreal, imagined, or hypothetical condition:

• Если бы у нас не осталось плова, я бы приготовил котлеты.
• If we had no pilaf left, I would make cutlets.

So:

• если = if
• если бы = if ... were / had / would in a hypothetical sense

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