grammar · formal
Had + subject + past participle, + clause
Inversion of 'If + past perfect' used to talk about unreal past situations and their results.
Examples
“Had I known about the strike, I would have taken a different route.”
“Had she read the report, she could have prevented the error.”
“Had we been informed earlier, we would have adjusted our schedule.”
Band 8 sentence
“Had the research team been consulted earlier, the policy recommendations in the report would have been much more practical.”
Collocations
- used in formal writing
- often at the beginning of a sentence
Common mistakes
Had I knew about the exam, I would have studied more.→Had I known about the exam, I would have studied more.
Had I had known, I would have warned you.→Had I known, I would have warned you.
Say it for a higher band
5If + past perfect, would have + past participle→6If I had known, I would have...→7+Had + subject + past participle, + clause
Synonyms
If + past perfect, would have + past participle
Easily confused
If + past perfect, would have + past participle
“If I had known about the delay, I would have arrived earlier.”
Related words
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In Tenses
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