要 不 是

yào bu shìdictionary entry

if it were not for / but for

Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-7b14c54d299d57d4. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

要不是要不是 [yao4 bu5 shi4] /if it were not for/but for/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

要
yāo
(bound form) to demand / to coerce
yào
to want / to need / to ask for / will / shall / about to / need to / should / if (same as 要是[yào shi]) / (bound form) important
不
bù
no / not so / (bound form) not / un-
是
shì
to be (followed by substantives only) / correct / right / true / (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well / (adverb for emphatic assertion)

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.