要不是

yàobùshì

conjunction HSK 7-9 #20,141

Meanings

1 if it were not for
2 had it not been for

Characters

Examples

要不是你帮忙，我一个人做不完。

Yàobùshì nǐ bāngmáng, wǒ yīgè rén zuò bù wán.

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

要不是下雨，我们就出去玩了。

Yàobùshì xiàyǔ, wǒmen jiù chūqù wán le.

Had it not been raining, we would have gone out to play.

Tips

grammar

要不是 introduces a counterfactual condition. The pattern is: 要不是 A，就 B — 'If not for A, then B would (not) have happened.' Often paired with 就 in the result clause.

Stroke Order

要 yào

不 bù

是 shì