If it hadn’t been for / had it not been for + modal
Point 91 in the PAST category of the English Grammar Profile, we can give reasons with this structure which collocates with:
If it hadn’t been for + up to 9 spaces to the right in the COCA corpus (I changed to this corpus because iWeb and NOW corpora were not allowing or providing much information):
1 WOULD 101
2 NEVER 23
3 MIGHT 18
4 PROBABLY 8
(the same search with “had it not been for” did not locate modals and the collocate frequency was much lower overall)
Up to 4 spaces to the right of “had it not been for”
From the NOW corpus:
(without the modal verb as required by point 91)
|
1 |
INTERVENTION |
146 |
|
2 |
FACT |
103 |
|
3 |
EFFORTS |
97 |
|
4 |
INJURY |
92 |
|
5 |
ACTIONS |
58 |
|
6 |
HEROICS |
41 |
|
7 |
QUICK |
41 |
|
8 |
INACTION |
40 |
|
9 |
INJURIES |
40 |
|
10 |
TIMELY |
36 |
|
11 |
PRESENCE |
34 |
|
12 |
POOR |
34 |
|
13 |
GOALKEEPER |
33 |
|
14 |
SAVE |
30 |
|
15 |
BRAVERY |
27 |
|
16 |
BRAVE |
27 |
|
17 |
BRILLIANCE |
21 |
|
18 |
BRILLIANT |
21 |
|
19 |
EXCELLENT |
21 |
|
20 |
SAVES |
20 |
|
21 |
SWIFT |
19 |
|
22 |
ACCIDENT |
18 |
|
23 |
PENALTY |
18 |
|
24 |
ERROR |
17 |
|
25 |
UNTIMELY |
16 |
|
26 |
UNWARRANTED |
16 |
|
27 |
COURAGE |
16 |
|
28 |
KNEE |
16 |
|
29 |
OUTSTANDING |
16 |
|
30 |
SAVARKAR |
15 |
|
31 |
DETERMINATION |
15 |
|
32 |
FINISHING |
15 |
|
33 |
PERSISTENCE |
14 |
|
34 |
HEROIC |
14 |
|
35 |
KEEPER |
14 |
|
36 |
SUPERB |
14 |
|
37 |
RESISTANCE |
14 |
|
38 |
CONTROVERSIAL |
14 |
|
39 |
DEFENSIVE |
14 |
|
40 |
EXTRAORDINARY |
13 |
|
41 |
MISTAKE |
13 |
|
42 |
INCREDIBLE |
13 |
|
43 |
LUCK |
12 |
|
44 |
CONTRIBUTION |
12 |
|
45 |
QUICK-THINKING |
11 |
|
46 |
ALERTNESS |
11 |
|
47 |
GOALKEEPING |
11 |
|
48 |
VEER |
11 |
|
49 |
STELLAR |
11 |
|
50 |
INTERVENTIONS |
11 |
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