【倒置/省略/書き換え】If it were not for/If it had not been forの意味

 

今回はif it were not for~とif it had not been for~の意味のほか、倒置や省略、書き換えについて解説します。

 

一見ややこしい表現ですが、ポイントさえ押さえてしまえば簡単です。

 

3分程度で読めますよ！

 

【倒置/省略/書き換え】If it were not for/If it had not been forの意味

まずはIf it were not for/If it had not been forの意味のほか、倒置や省略、書き換えの全体像について確認してみましょう。

 

 

 

倒置の場合もシンプルです。

1. were / hadを文頭に持ってくる
2. Ifを消す

 

この2ステップで、全く同じ意味を表すことが出来るのですね。

(仮定法では、このように倒置させることで、Ifを省略できます)

 

 

また、時制に関係なく、But for/Withoutで書き換えることも出来ます。さらに、どちらのパターンでも、If not forのように、it were/it hadが省略されることがあります。

 

具体例は下記にて見ていきましょう！

 

If it were not for/If it had not been forの例文

例文はコチラです。

 

まずはIf it were not forです。現在の意味で使えるのがポイントですね。

If it were not for her, he would not be here now.

= Were it not for her, he would not be here now.

= But for her, he would not be here now.

= Without her, he would not be here now.

= If it not for her, he would not be here now.

（彼女がいなければ、彼は今ここにはいないだろう）

 

次にIf it had not been forです。過去の意味で使えるのがポイントですね。

If it had not been for his effort, he would not have succeeded.

= Had it not been for his effort, he would not have succeeded.

= But for his effort, he would not have succeeded.

= Without his effort, he would not have succeeded.

= If it not for his effort, he would not have succeeded.

（彼の努力がなかったら、彼は成功しなかっただろう）

 

 

なお、withoutの代わりにwithを使うこともあります。詳しい意味や用法などは過去の記事をご参照ください。

参考記事：【決定版】but for, without, withを用いた仮定法とは？