From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishif it wasn’t/weren’t for somebody/somethingif it wasn’t/weren’t for somebody/something (also if it hadn’t been for somebody/something)IF used to say who or what prevents or prevented something from happening If it hadn’t been for you, I should have drowned. → forif it wasn’t/weren’t for somebody/somethingif it wasn’t/weren’t for somebody/something (also if it hadn’t been for somebody/something)IF used to say who or what prevents or prevented something from happening We would have arrived much earlier if it hadn’t been for the snow. → it
