要不是警察及时赶到
“If the police hadn't arrived in time,”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
“such a thing on a performance tour.”
要不是 警察 及时赶到
“If the police hadn't arrived in time,”
你说咱们怎么办
“we'd have been helpless.”
“We were this close to disaster, thank goodness the police showed up.”
Reflecting on 'what could have happened' after escaping danger is a common conversational way to process shock and reinforce solidarity among survivors.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
if it were not for; had it not been for
A common conjunction introducing a counterfactual condition that prevented a worse consequence.
to arrive in the nick of time
Collocation frequently used to describe rescue services or help arriving just when needed.