〜でなくてなんだろう (denakute-nandarou) - If thats not ... I
don't know what is
--- Notes ---
always follows a noun. written only
〜でなくてなんだろう literally means : 'If it is not 〜,then
what it is/ what can it be?'
--- Examples ---
このケーキが世界一でなくてなんだろう。
If this isn't the world's best cake, then I don't know what is.
あの国の大統領は国民の意見は無視して何でも自分一人で決定する。これが独裁者でなくてなんだろう。
The president of that country decides everything himself ignoring nation's
concerns. If that's not dictatorship, then i don't know what is.
自分の命を犠牲にして多くの人を救ったあの男が英雄でなくてなんだろう。
That man who sacrificed his own life to help so many people, if he isn't a
hero I don't know who is. でなくてなんだろう
--- Comments ---
JLPT Level 4? (contributor: anon)
well spotted. Level 1 i think. (contributor: dc)
JPLT Level 1 without a doubt. (contributor: olivier)
not to be a nit-picker, but how does that example sentence fit in with
'written only'? (contributor: rasmusjp)
suppose we're talking about a person, is 〜でなくてだれだろう
acceptable? (same goes for places, time, etc) (contributor: cosmo)
たとえば？あの人はスミスさんでなくてだれだろう？とか？I
think its grammatically correct its just probably not used. Also consider
that when speaking about other people you have to be careful about
politeness, so saying なくてだれだろう？might be considered a
little bit rude. (contributor: iamharenchi)
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