Question

Transform the below sentence by replacing the word “if” with the most appropriate word:
If I had known your true nature, I would not have helped you.
a) Had I had known your true nature, I would not have helped you.
b) Had I known your true nature, I would not have helped you.
c) Should I known your true nature, I would not have helped you.
d) Were I known your true nature, I would not have helped you.

Answer 1

Hint: The conjugation “if” is defined as “supposing that, assuming that, in the circumstances that something happens; used to introduce a condition or something.” For example- She will definitely need help if she chooses to perform.

Complete answer:
Let us analyze the options given to us in this question -
Option (a.), 'Had I had known your true nature, I would not have helped you', refers to ‘had’ two times. Therefore, option (a.) is incorrect as ‘had’ cannot be used twice in the same sentence.
Option (c.), ‘Should I known your true nature, I would not have helped you', refers to ‘should’ the modal verb. Therefore, option (c.) is incorrect as we cannot use the modal verb, 'should' since it is used in the present tense but with a future meaning.
Option (b.), ‘Had I known your true nature, I would not have helped you', is correct as of the clause ‘If I had…nature’ is perfectly rephrased as ‘Had I known’.
Option (d.), ‘Were I known your true nature, I would not have helped you', refers to ‘were’ the modal verb. Therefore, option (d.) is incorrect as a modal verb cannot be used here.

Note:
 In this question, it will be helpful for the student to recall the concept of conjugation (as the word ‘if’ is a conjugation). Conjugation is a class of verbs having the same inflectional forms. It is the complete set of inflected forms of a verb.