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Chan-Seung Lee

Joined: 03 Dec 2005
Posts: 1032

Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 11:15 pm Post subject: dash2

Quote:

They said they could not find suitable jobs - had they really looked - so we continued to support them.

In the above, is 'had they really looked' the same as 'if they had really looked' ?

Thanks.

Suzanne

Joined: 21 Apr 2008
Posts: 283
Location: Seattle, WA, USA

Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2009 3:31 pm Post subject:

Hi, again,

Quote:

They said they could not find suitable jobs - had they really looked - so we continued to support them.

Yes, "had they really looked" and "if they had really looked" are the same. You don't need "if" here.

The sentence has a tone of doubt or skepticism as to whether they had made an honest attempt to look for a job, doesn't it?

Hope this helps!

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