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Thread: Had [subject] not been

  1. 01-Oct-2011, 12:53 #1
    pizza
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    Default Had [subject] not been

    Is the following sentence grammatically correct?

    Had she not been there I would have gotten away with it.
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  2. 01-Oct-2011, 13:04 #2
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    Default Re: Had [subject] not been

    Yes.

    Some people would have a comma: Had she not been there, I would have gotten away with it.
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  3. 01-Oct-2011, 13:05 #3
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    Default Re: Had [subject] not been

    Quote Originally Posted by pizza View Post
    Is the following sentence grammatically correct?

    Had she not been there I would have gotten away with it.
    Yes. You could put a comma after "there" but "Had she not..." is fine.
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  4. 01-Oct-2011, 13:10 #4
    nesyan
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    Default Re: Had [subject] not been

    is it a conditional or a question ?
    is it fine to say " if she hadn't been there, I would have gotten away with her "
    why does " had " come before the subject here ?
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  5. 01-Oct-2011, 13:18 #5
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    Default Re: Had [subject] not been

    These are more formal ways of expressing conditions:

    Had she not been there... = If she had not been there...

    Were you to stay ... =If you were to stay...
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  6. 02-Oct-2011, 04:55 #6
    pizza
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    Default Re: Had [subject] not been

    Quote Originally Posted by fivejedjon View Post
    These are more formal ways of expressing conditions:

    Had she not been there... = If she had not been there...

    Were you to stay ... =If you were to stay...
    These forms are very useful, I find myself always resorting to them in my speech, I just wanted to make sure I was using them correctly.

    Just to be clear:

    More Formal
    Had she not been there…

    Less Formal
    If she had not been there…

    Correct?
    Last edited by pizza; 03-Oct-2011 at 02:24.
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  7. 02-Oct-2011, 07:17 #7
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    Default Re: Had [subject] not been

    Yes
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