Making Chinese characters easy to write.

Sister Sites

Five Elements Test Chinese-Idioms.com

About Product Updates Privacy Policy Terms of Service

DICTIONARY

Chinese Dictionary
Pinyin Index
Radical Index
Character Components
HSK Dictionary
Character Compare

DICTIONARY

Chinese Dictionary
Pinyin Index
Radical Index
Character Components
HSK Dictionary
Character Compare

TOOLS

Practice & Review

Writing Practice
Flashcard Review
Dictation Practice
Worksheet Generator
Sentence Practice
Hanzi Sticker Match

Resources & Utilities

Worksheet Library
HSK Level Checker
Pinyin Converter

Fun & Culture

Name Generator
Zodiac Calculator

TOOLS

Practice & Review

Writing Practice
Flashcard Review
Dictation Practice
Worksheet Generator
Sentence Practice
Hanzi Sticker Match

Resources & Utilities

Worksheet Library
HSK Level Checker
Pinyin Converter

Fun & Culture

Name Generator
Zodiac Calculator

LEARN

Learning Center
Courses
Blog
Chinese Stroke Rules
Chinese Poetry
Pro Membership ✨

LEARN

Learning Center
Courses
Blog
Chinese Stroke Rules
Chinese Poetry
Pro Membership ✨

© 2026 Hanzi Stroke. All rights reserved.

Made with♥for Chinese learners.

要不是 (yào bú shì): Meaning, Examples & Usage

By CharacterBrowse all characters A-Z

By PinyinSearch by pronunciation

By RadicalFind by radical component

By ComponentsLearn meaning and sound clues

HSK ListsAll HSK versions overview

HSK 2.0

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Level 6

HSK 3.0

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Level 6 Level 7-9

HSK Standard CourseHSK 2.0

New HSK CourseHSK 3.0

Integrated ChineseFourth Edition

Hanyu JiaochengThird Edition

Developing ChineseSecond Edition

Browse all courses

Practice & Review

Writing PracticePractice HSK and saved words

Flashcard ReviewSRS review for HSK and custom decks

Dictation PracticeListen and write characters

Worksheet GeneratorCreate practice sheets for free

Sentence PracticeWrite complete sentences in context

Hanzi Sticker MatchFree pinyin–hanzi matching game

Resources & Utilities

Worksheet LibraryHSK, Top 100 & themed PDFs

Fun & Culture

Name GeneratorCreate your Chinese name

Home
Dictionary
要不是

要不是 (yào bú shì): If it were not for (Conjunction) — Meaning & Stroke Order

HSK 3.0Level 5

1.

Animated Stroke Order

Stroke order animation for 要不是

2.

Free Printable Worksheet: 要不是

要不是 writing worksheet PDF preview

Download Worksheet

Download full HSK 3.0 Level 5 PDF pack

3.

Character Breakdown

要 • yào • want; be going to; ask for; demand • HSK 3.0 · L1

HSK 3.0 · L1

yào要

want; be going to; ask for; demand

Word Info

Pinyinyào bú shì

Meaningif it were not for

Characters3

SyntaxConjunction

HSK Level CheckerCheck HSK level of any text

Pinyin ConverterConvert Chinese to Pinyin

Zodiac CalculatorFind your zodiac animal

不 • bú • not; no • HSK 3.0 · L1

HSK 3.0 · L1

bú不

not; no

是 • shì • to be • HSK 3.0 · L1

HSK 3.0 · L1

shì是

to be

Words Sharing Characters

More common words that include characters from 要不是.

Words with 要

不要bù yàodon't!
快要kuài yàonearly at the point of (doing sth); about to (do sth)
主要zhǔ yàomainly
要求yāo qiúrequirement
重要zhòng yàoimportant
需要xū yàoneed
只要zhǐ yàoso long as ...
将要jiāng yàowill

Words with 不

不要bù yàodon't!
不客气bú kè qiyou're welcome; impolite
对不起duì bu qǐsorry
不错bù cuòcorrect

Words with 是

但是dàn shìbut; however
只是zhǐ shìmerely; only; just; nothing but
总是zǒng shìalways
还是hái shì...or...? [in a question]

不好意思

bù hǎo yì si

to feel embarrassed

不久bù jiǔnot long (after)

不但bù dànnot only (... but also ...)

不同bù tóngdifferent

于是

yú shì

as a result

可是kě shìbut

就是jiù shìexactly; precisely

是否shì fǒuwhether or not

4.

Example Sentences with 要不是

yào要

bu不

shì是

nǐ你

tí提

xǐng醒

wǒ我

，

wǒ我

jiù就

wàng忘

jì记

dài带

yào钥

shi匙

le了

。

If it were not for you reminding me, I would have forgotten to bring the keys.

yào要

bú不

shì是

nǐ你

bāng帮

máng忙

，

wǒ我

kěn

yào要

bú不

shì是

qiān千

jūn钧

yì一

fā发

shí时

肯

dìng定

chí迟

dào到

。

If it were not for your help, I would definitely be late.

nǐ

你

lā拉

wǒ我

yì一

bǎ把

，

hòu后

guǒ果

bù不

kān堪

shè设

xiǎng想

。

If you hadn't pulled me back at the critical moment, the consequences would have been unthinkable.