Can you help me with Japanese conditionals?

Question:

I've read there are four Japanese conditional forms: -nara, -tara, -eba and -to
But when is it more appropriate to use one over the other? Or can you just use them interchangeably?

Answer:

-tara and -eba are verb endings. Nara and to are like prepositions. Explaining all of their various uses is kinda difficult but I'll try.

Putting "nara" after the dictionary form of a verb is kind of like "As for [verb]" or "If [on the other hand] you choose to [verb], ..." Nara gives me this sense like you're talking about choosing to do one thing over choosing to do another.

-tara and -eba mean "If one ____s." So for example, "Netara" means "If one sleeps, ..." . I think that -tara is more polite than -eba.
You can use these two forms to make suggestions. "Shiken no tame ni benkyou shitara dou desu ka?" means "How about you study for the test?"

-to is a preposition that you add after the dictionary form of a verb. It means something like "If you verb, then (result.)" It is also used in certain places where in English we could also use "When." For example: "Daigaku ni hairu to ii nee." (Wouldn't it be great if I got into college?) "Gakkou e tsuku to (kutsu wo nuida hou ga ii.)" (When you get to the school (you'd better take off your shoes.))

-to, -tara, and -eba can also be used for making statements like "I wish that ______ would happen...." For example: ame motto fureba ii ne.... (I wish it would rain more...) kasa wo motte kitara ii ne.... (I wish I'd brought an umbrella.) You do NOT use "nara" for this purpose.

Using "to" for this last purpose gives me the sense of "Wouldn't it be great if ___?" more than "I wish that _____..." Like: Kanojo to baru ni iku chance ga aru to ii ne.... (Wouldn't it be great if I had the chance to go to the bar with my girlfriend?)