要不是 yàobúshì if it were not for
if it were not for; but for
怎么记住“要不是”: 要 want + 不 not + 是 is = if it were not for.
汉字
用法
- If it weren't for… - 要不是你帮忙，我就完了 (yàobúshì nǐ bāngmáng, wǒ jiù wán le) if it weren't for your help, I'd have been done for.
- Introduces a counterfactual: a condition that (thankfully or unluckily) held, changing the outcome; the main clause takes 就.
- Spoken and common; note the fixed 是 at the end.
例句
- 要不是当初有内战，他们现在应该挺富裕了。 Yàobúshì dāngchū yǒu nèizhàn, tāmen xiànzài yīnggāi tǐng fùyù le.If it had not been for civil war, they would be wealthy now.