2nd Conditional Omitting If

[cool_alien]

I have a disagreement with a colleague. Could someone please help us with omitting "if" in the second conditional? Is it possible, when the main verb is "have" to simply invert the subject and verb as in 3rd conditional?

Example: If I had a pen, I would write a letter.

Omitting If A: Were I to have a pen, I would write a letter.
Omitting If B: Had I a pen, I would write a letter.

Is B also correct?

 

[emsr2d2]

Welcome to the forum. :hi:

Yes, B is grammatically correct but it sounds old-fashioned. Most modern native speakers wouldn't use it. It's a construction my grandfather (born in 1921) would have used. The vast majority of native speakers would use the sentence marked "Example" in post #1.

 

[SoothingDave]

"If I had a pen..."

 

[Tdol]

There are beautiful examples of #2:

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44688/to-his-coy-mistress

Mind you, this is an old poem.