past perfect simple (inversion) – English Grammar Profiler

In the English Grammar Profile, C1 point 85 in the category of PAST is defined as:

invert the subject and affirmative auxiliary verb to talk about imagined situations in the past, often with regret, in formal contexts

*although a following modal verb ‘could’ or ‘would’ is not mentioned in the description above, they do follow in the EGP examples.

A search in iWeb for:

. Had _P _VVN

1 . HAD I KNOWN 1172

2 . HAD HE LIVED 141

It would have been much easier had he lived on TRAPPIST-1.

3 . HAD WE KNOWN 135 4 . HAD I GONE 101 5 . HAD I SEEN 99 6 . HAD I USED 97 7 . HAD HE KNOWN 86 8 . HAD I READ 83 9 . HAD THEY KNOWN 83 10 . HAD HE STAYED 80 11 . HAD HE GONE 65 12 . HAD I TAKEN 63 13 . HAD HE MADE 60 14 . HAD HE TAKEN 55 15 . HAD WE GONE 53 16 . HAD HE PLAYED 52 17 . HAD I THOUGHT 51 18 . HAD YOU ASKED 50 19 . HAD HE SAID 49 20 . HAD I STAYED 48 21 . HAD I REALIZED 48 22 . HAD IT TOWED 48 23 . HAD THEY GONE 47 24 . HAD I WAITED 46 25 . HAD HE WON 46 26 . HAD IT HAPPENED 45 27 . HAD HE REMAINED 44 28 . HAD SHE KNOWN 43 29 . HAD THEY KEPT 43 30 . HAD I MADE 42 31 . HAD WE USED 42 32 . HAD I TRIED 41 33 . HAD SHE LIVED 41 34 . HAD I WANTED 39 35 . HAD I KEPT 38 36 . HAD I PAID 37 37 . HAD I SAID 36 38 . HAD HE USED 36 39 . HAD I CONTINUED 36 40 . HAD I CHOSEN 36 41 . HAD THEY WON 36 42 . HAD IT GONE 34 43 . HAD WE STAYED 34 44 . HAD I FOUND 33 45 . HAD THEY MADE 33 46 . HAD YOU SEEN 32 47 . HAD I BOUGHT 31 48 . HAD I LEFT 31 49 . HAD I LISTENED 30 50 . HAD IT CHECKED 30 51 . HAD HE CONTINUED 29 52 . HAD THEY TAKEN 29 53 . HAD YOU READ 29 54 . HAD HE SEEN 28 55 . HAD HE LOST 28 56 . HAD HE SUCCEEDED 28 57 . HAD I FOLLOWED 28 58 . HAD I GIVEN 28 59 . HAD SHE WON 28 60 . HAD I GOTTEN 27 61 . HAD IT INSTALLED 27 62 . HAD THEY LOST 27 63 . HAD YOU HEARD 27 64 . HAD THEY USED 26 65 . HAD YOU BOUGHT 26 66 . HAD HE WAITED 25 67 . HAD I STARTED 25 68 . HAD WE TAKEN 25

69 . HAD I PURCHASED 24

70 . HAD HE CHOSEN 24 71 . HAD THEY FOLLOWED 24 72 . HAD THEY SUCCEEDED 24 73 . HAD YOU KNOWN 23 74 . HAD YOU SAID 23

75 . HAD HE SURVIVED 22

76 . HAD HE GIVEN 22 77 . HAD IT REPLACED 22 78 . HAD SHE GONE 22 79 . HAD WE KEPT 22 80 . HAD I LOST 21 81 . HAD I RECEIVED 21 82 . HAD HE LEFT 21 83 . HAD HE HIT 20 84 . HAD WE SEEN 20 85 . HAD I SPENT 19 86 . HAD HE READ 19 87 . HAD HE LOOKED 19 88 . HAD WE CHOSEN 19 89 . HAD WE MADE 19 90 . HAD HE DIED 18 91 . HAD HE DECIDED 18 92 . HAD HE KEPT 18 93 . HAD I PUT 18 94 . HAD I WRITTEN 18 95 . HAD THEY CONTINUED 18 96 . HAD THEY SEEN 18 97 . HAD WE LOST 18 98 . HAD YOU GONE 18 99 . HAD YOU TOLD 18

100 . HAD YOU USED 18

B2 vocabulary: purchased, survived