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I came across a sentence using もあれば where there wasn't a conditional. あれば got translated as sometimes:

名詞から動詞が派生していることもあれば、その逆のこともある。
Sometimes a verb is derived from a noun and sometimes it is the other way around.

Looking for more examples, I saw some more sentences with this "sometimes this, sometimes that" pattern. I basically understand how to construct a sentence with this pattern, but I also found some where I couldn't' tell what もあれば was doing:

京都から高野山までは、3時間もあれば行ける距離です。
Kyoto is about 3 hours distance from Mt. Koya

10分もあれば支度できます。
It only takes me 10 minutes to get ready

What is もあれば's function in the last two examples?

Louis Waweru
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1 Answers1

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ば is conditional just as in the first example. も in these cases means something like 'as less as'. The literal translations are respectively (Don't expect that they are grammatical or natural in English):

(The distance) from Kyoto to Koyasan is such that, if you have as less as three hours, you can get there.

If I have as less as ten minutes, I can get ready.

By the way, although I know that it is not only the responsibility of the English speaking people, I feel it unnatural when people write something like Mt. Koyasan. It is as strange as saying Mt. Mont Blanc, salsa sauce, Volkswagen car, etc.