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I was wondering what would the inverted version of a passive conditional sentence like the following ones be.

If he were told to do so, he would tell me.

If my car were stolen, I wouldn't report it.

Are the sentences bellow correct?

Were he to be told to do so, he would tell me.

Were my car to be stolen, I wouldn't report it.

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    Yes, but I'd stick with the originals. Apr 13, 2020 at 14:57
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    That's a very archaic construction, practically Victorian. Native speakers might use it to appear fussy or as a joke, but not in ordinary speech or writing. Apr 13, 2020 at 15:08
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    I belive that, in practice, most people would say "He would tell me if he was told to do so" and "I wouldn't report it if my car was stolen". Grammaticaly these constructions are a bit suspect but they are more colloquial than either of your forms.
    – BoldBen
    Apr 13, 2020 at 15:19

1 Answer 1

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No. All you need to do is drop if and invert, not add to be:

If he were told to do so, he would tell me.

Were he told to do so, he would tell me.

If my car were stolen, I wouldn't report it.

Were my car stolen, I wouldn't report it.

See: Wikipedia: English subjunctive—Inversion

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