Chinese word

要不是

Pronunciation

Pinyinyào bù shì

Meaning

  • conjunctionif it weren't for

Example

要不是他帮忙，我做不完。yào bú shì tā bāng máng wǒ zuò bù wán

If it weren't for his help, I couldn't finish it.

Illustration for 要不是 (if it weren't for)

More examples

要不是她坚持，我们不会成功。yào bú shì tā jiān chí wǒ men bú huì chéng gōng

If it weren't for her persistence, we wouldn't have succeeded.

Core concept

An important support is imagined as absent, revealing how the outcome depends on it.

Common phrases

  • 要不是...，就...yào bú shì jiù

    if it weren't for ___, ___

  • 要不是他帮忙yào bú shì tā bāng máng

    if it weren't for his help

  • 要不是因为...yào bú shì yīn wèi

    if it weren't for ___

Similar words

如果不是rú guǒ bú shì: Considers how the result would change if a necessary condition were missing.
假如不是jiǎ rú bú shì: Imagines what would happen if a person or condition were not present.
若不是ruò bú shì: In a somewhat formal style, considers a result under the imagined absence of a person or condition.

Definition in Chinese

用来对已发生或假设的情况提出否定性的假设，常用于说明某人或某事对结果的重要性，意思接近“要不是……，就不会有现在的情况”。yòng lái duì yǐ fā shēng huò jiǎ shè de qíng kuàng tí chū fǒu dìng xìng de jiǎ shè cháng yòng yú shuō míng mǒu rén huò mǒu shì duì jié guǒ de zhòng yào xìng yì si jiē jìn yào bú shì jiù bú huì yǒu xiàn zài de qíng kuàng

Word origin

要 (yào, "want or need") + 不是 (búshì, "not be") develops into a set phrase that frames the absence of a necessary circumstance.

Usage tips

  • The pattern is common when a speaker gives credit to a person or circumstance, and it can also mark regret about what would otherwise have happened.

Opposites

  • 正因为zhèng yīn wèiprecisely becauseconjunction
  • 多亏duō kuīthanks toconjunction

Word lists with this word