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〜でなくてなんだろう

if this isn't X, what is?

Noun + でなくてなんだろう / でなくてなんであろう

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でなくてなんだろう is a rhetorical question insisting that something can only be X: これが愛でなくてなんだろう, "if this isn't love, what is?".

The noun is a strong, abstract word: 愛, 奇跡 ("miracle"), 運命 ("fate"), 差別 ("discrimination"), 犯罪. The speaker is moved or outraged, and the question has no real answer. It means "this is X, without a doubt".

It's literary and dramatic, found in essays, speeches, novels and song lyrics. でなくてなんであろう is even more formal.

Don't confuse it with ではないだろう, "probably isn't", which is a genuine guess.

Examples

  • これが愛あいでなくてなんだろう。

    If this isn't love, what is?

  • 全員ぜんいんが助たすかったのは、奇跡きせきでなくてなんだろう。

    Everyone survived. If that isn't a miracle, what is?

  • 二人ふたりの出会であいは運命うんめいでなくてなんだろう。

    If their meeting wasn't fate, what was it?

  • 見みた目めだけで判断はんだんするのは、差別さべつでなくてなんだろう。

    Judging people on looks alone. If that isn't discrimination, what is?

  • こんな偶然ぐうぜんが重かさなるとは、神かみの導みちびきでなくてなんであろう。

    So many coincidences at once. What could it be, if not the hand of God?