hadn't

See also: hadnt

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

had +‎ -n't

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈhæd(ə)nt/
  • Audio (US)(file)

Verb

hadn't

  1. (informal) Contraction of had not. (negative auxiliary[1])

Usage notes

“Hadn’t” (and “had not”) is mainly used as auxiliary, but can be also he used in place of “did not (or didn’t) have”, as in “I hadn’t a reason to do that.” instead of “I didn’t have a reason to do that.” The latter use is mostly limited to British English.

References
  1. Arnold M. Zwicky and Geoffrey K. Pullum, Cliticization vs. Inflection: English n’t, Language 59 (3), 1983, pp. 502-513
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