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The whole sentence is "But had events gone another way, this would be a rather different memoir."

Why is the sentence not like "But the events have gone another way"? "Have" and "events" are reversed, is this first conditional?

tchrist
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TIna
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  • The title of your question mentions had, which makes sense. In your question itself you keep mentioning have, which makes a lot less sense. Which is it? – oerkelens May 08 '14 at 07:42
  • @oerkelens it's "had" in my question, I made a mistake. – TIna May 08 '14 at 07:53
  • “Had anyone bothered to ask me why, I would have told them.” —— “Were it not for the fire alarm, we would all be dead now.” —— “Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home.” —— “And come the day you'll hear them saying / ‘They’re throwing it all away’ / Nothing more to say / Just throw it all away.” – tchrist May 08 '14 at 08:00
  • @tchrist Spot of the century? – Edwin Ashworth May 08 '14 at 08:01
  • There are far more conditionals in Heaven and English than are dreamt of in facilely enumerated ESL gross over-simplifications. You’ve asked a loaded question, so we can’t give you a straight answer. English conditionals do not require triggers like if and unless, provided that you have inversion and mood shift. It has been that way since Beowulf and continues so to our own day, albeit perhaps more in literary, poetic, and oratorical registers than in pedestrian banter in the streets and pubs. – tchrist May 08 '14 at 08:02
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    @EdwinAshworth “Lord Grenville”, from Year of the Cat. – tchrist May 08 '14 at 08:06
  • @tchrist I meant the dupe! – Edwin Ashworth May 08 '14 at 08:42

1 Answers1

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The reversal you noted produces a change in meaning that is equivalent to "But if events had gone another way, [...]"

Erik Kowal
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