でなくてなんだろう（か）if this isn't …, what is?
"It is exactly that", put as a question that wants no answer. In an essay or a speech, a writer certain that the thing is love, or courage, or plain exploitation asks what else you could possibly call it.
praise
My mother shared out even her own portion among us. If that isn't love, what is?
accusation
Squeezing money unfairly out of people in a weak position: what is that, if not exploitation?
How to form it
Noun + でなくてなんだろう（か）
か is optional and changes nothing. The stiffer shape is でなくてなんであろう（か）. Also written 何だろう.
- Before it
- A weighty name for what the thing really is: 愛 (love), 勇気 (courage), 奇跡 (a miracle), 差別 (discrimination), 暴力 (violence).
- Tone
- Impassioned. It praises or accuses, and takes your agreement for granted.
- Where you'll meet it
- Essays, editorials, reviews, novels, speeches. It is for reading: in conversation it would sound like a line from a play.
- In conversation
- People say まさに〜だ or これこそ〜だ: まさに奇跡だ, "it really is a miracle".
In use
She put her own position at risk to blow the whistle. What is that, if not courage?
This forest has been protected and handed down for a hundred years. What is it, if not the treasure of the region?
Innocent children are the first to fall victim. What is this, if not tragedy?
The stiffer であろう, for solemn writing.
It means "it is"
でなくて looks like a negative and the sentence ends like a question, so it is easy to read as doubt. It is the opposite: the writer has no doubt at all.
If this isn't a miracle, what is?
Certain: it is a miracle.
Is this a miracle, I wonder?
A real question: the writer doesn't know.
Close neighbours
にほかならないN2
The same claim stated flat: "is precisely". No question, and less heat.
His remark is nothing other than discrimination against women.
ではないかN4
The plainer written "is it not…?". It presses a claim too, with less drama, and it can follow a verb or an adjective as well.
Is this not plain discrimination?
Check yourself
1What does the writer think?
仲間を
Choose an answer to see why.
2A friend tells you that everyone walked away from the crash unhurt. Which reply is natural?
Choose an answer to see why.
More sentences
To know the facts and still force citizens into silence: what is that, if not an abuse of power?
He listens to what each and every patient has to say. What is that, if not the conscience of medicine?
This film has the power to make its audience face the past. What is that, if not the power of art?
Going to the scene of every disaster and quietly carrying on with the relief work: what is that, if not devotion?