I am reading a economics book and the following sentence confuses me:
Were such individuals to gain a lot of money, they would stop buying
insurance.It seems strange to me. What is the meaning of this sentence? What sentence pattern does it belong to?
Answer
Normally an unreal if-clause has the form if + past subjunctive/ past perfect subjunctive as in
- If I had* enough money/If I had* had enough money ( had* = past subjunctive).
You can choose a variant without “if” and with inversion
- Had* I enough money/ Had* I had enough money.
This variant is always possible in written elevated style.
Attribution
Source : Link , Question Author : Nighty , Answer Author : rogermue