Word.ws English Dictionary

if it were not for

if it were not for prepositional phrase: if a certain condition were not met; used to indicate that a particular person, event, etc. prevented a certain outcome.

Prepositional phrase

  1. If a certain condition were not met; used to indicate that a particular person, event, etc. prevented a certain outcome.

Forms of if it were not for

alternative formwere it not for
alternative formif it had not been for

Questions about if it were not for

What does if it were not for mean?
If it were not for means if a certain condition were not met; used to indicate that a particular person, event, etc. prevented a certain outcome.
What part of speech is if it were not for?
If it were not for is a prepositional phrase.

Words near if it were not for in the dictionary

  1. if it looks like a duck
  2. if it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck
  3. if it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it's probably a duck
  4. if it looks, swims, walks and quacks like a duck, then it's probably a duck
  5. if it wasn't
  6. if it were not for
  7. if it works, it works
  8. if it you please
  9. if it's all the same
  10. if it's not one thing it's another
  11. if it's the last thing I do

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: if it were not for (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “if it were not for.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/if_it_were_not_for. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.