Had we known ...

[alnxp]

HAD WE KNOWN that you would be there, we would have gone.

I've got confuse about "Had we known". I'm not familiar with this structure, does somebody help me to understand?

 

[Raymott]

Re: What does this sentence mean?

"Had we known" means "If we had known".

 

[emsr2d2]

Re: What does this sentence mean?

We have two ways of expressing this. I imagine you are more familiar with "If we had known that ...". If you already understand how to use it that way, you can learn to use the construction you are querying.

If we had known that you would be there ...
Had we known that you would be there ...

If I had won the lottery, I would have bought a car.
Had I won the lottery, I would have bought a car.

If you had turned left back there, we would have been there by now.
Had you turned left back there, we would have been there by now.

As you can see, the second construction is made by removing "If", then reversing the subject and the auxiliary "had".

"Had" doesn't have to be involved:

If you were to win the lottery, what would you do?
Were you to win the lottery, what would you do?

 

[GoesStation]

Re: What does this sentence mean?

There's no reason for an English learner to use it, but you should learn to understand this structure when you see it.

 

[Rover_KE]

alnxp, please note that I have changed your thread title.

Extract from the Posting Guidelines:

'Thread titles should include all or part of the word/phrase being discussed.'

 

[emsr2d2]

Re: What does this sentence mean?

There's no reason for an English learner to use it, but you should learn to understand this structure when you see it.

I think it can be a useful (impressive?) construction for upper-intermediate and advanced learners to learn and use.