Study materials
These three sentences come from business letters, and none of them contains if.
Should you require further information, please contact us.
Were the deadline extended, we would reconsider.
Had we been informed earlier, the delay would have been avoided.
It is the same condition, rebuilt. This article explains inversion with should, were and had in place of if, and the phrases were it not for and had it not been for.
Conditions without if
In formal style if can be dropped and should, were or had moved to the front. This is called inversion, a change of the usual word order. Each form matches its own type of condition.
| Inversion | Instead of | Which condition |
|---|---|---|
| Should you need help | If you need help | real but unlikely |
| Were I in your position | If I were in your position | imagined, about the present |
| Were prices to rise | If prices were to rise | imagined, about the future |
| Had we known earlier | If we had known earlier | unreal, about the past |
Negatives in this inversion are not contracted: Had we not booked, not Hadn't we booked. When the condition comes first, a comma follows it.
Should at the start
Should at the start makes the condition less likely, meaning if by any chance. So it sounds tactful and is common in formal letters and instructions. The main clause is usually a request or advice.
If you have any questions, let me know.
An ordinary letter.
Should you have any questions, please let me know.
More formal and tactful.
Should the alarm sound, leave the building.
An instruction.
Should is followed by the base form of the verb, the form with no endings, such as have or sound. In a chat with friends this inversion sounds too solemn.
Were and had at the start
Were at the start replaces if with were or if with were to. The inversion works only with were, even after I, he or she. Had at the start replaces if with had and the past participle, a condition about the past that did not happen.
Were I you, I'd accept the offer.
Were prices to rise, sales would fall.
Had she left earlier, she'd have caught the train.
Were it not for means if it were not for, about the present, and had it not been for means the same about the past.
Were it not for the rain, we'd be outside.
Had it not been for her help, we'd have failed.
Common mistakes
The first mistake is a contracted negative.
Hadn't we booked in advance, we'd have no seats. → Had we not booked in advance...
Not is not contracted in this inversion.
The second mistake is if together with inversion.
If should you need help, call us. → Should you need help, call us.
Inversion replaces if.
The third mistake is was instead of were.
Was I in your position, I'd wait. → Were I in your position, I'd wait.
Inversion works only with were.
The first mistake shows right after had. The subject goes there, and not follows it. The second shows at the start of the sentence. If should, were or had is there, if is no longer needed. The third shows in the first word. Was at the start makes a question, and only were gives a condition.