要不是

yào bu shì

HSK level: HSK 5

Meaning

if it were not for; but for

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Characters

要yàoessential, necessary; to ask for; to coerce; to demand覀女不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix一是shìto be; indeed, right, yes; okay日疋

Examples

要不是当初有内战，他们现在应该挺富裕了。

yào bu shì dāng chū yǒu nèi zhàn， tā men xiàn zài yīng gāi tǐng fù yù le。

If it had not been for civil war, they would be wealthy now.