Had + subject + not ....

GrammarwannabeCan anyone tell me what the grammar form would be called is in a sentence like the one below?

Had he not seen the ship, we wouldn't have been saved.

It is a complex sentence with the subordinate clause coming first.

Specifically, I am asking about using a sentence which is formed as a question would be.

The

Had you stayed home last night instead of going out, you wouldn't have been involved in the car accident.
This is the same as " if you had stayed home last night..you wouldn't have ....."

This is an alternative form of third conditional.
It is more formal, and is used more often in written English than spoken. I have serious doubts about calling it a subordinate clause in my o

dimsumexpress I have serious doubts about calling it a subordinate clause in my opinion.

The first part of the sentence, the part the original poster thinks may be a question, is a subordinate clause.

Of course it's a clause - it has a subject (he), a verb phrase (had not seen...) and it even has a direct object (the ship). It's one of those conditional constructions that has the preposition "if" omitted, and subject-auxiliary inversion. It's the equivalent to "If he had not seen the ship, we wouldn't have been saved.

The subordinate clause is actually an adjunct (of condition), and a

Thanks guys,

I knew it was a conditional and not a question. I was really asking if it was called something other than the conditional of the past participle (because we would normally use an "if" clause there.).