Abnormal Structure

[toloue_man]

When there is a negative adverb at the beginning of a sentence, we reserve the position of main and auxiliary verb. But, what about the following sentence, it has not any negative adverb at the beginning?

For a prospective teacher would never have even seen the principal for an interview had he not passed her muster.

[TheParser]

For a prospective teacher would never have even seen the principal for an interview had he not passed her muster.

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


I believe that is just an elegant way to say:


For a prospective teacher would never have even seen the principal for an interview if he had not passed her muster.


*****

For example, here is a poor example that I have made up:

Had Mr. X not made a lot of mistakes, he might have won the election. = If Mr. X had not made a lot of mistakes, he ...."