Hi guys,
I heard a line in "Mr. Brooks" saying:
"Your picture was in the paper. And if it hadn't have been, I don't know what I would've done."
I understand that it is a conditional, but how could "have" be following "hadn't?" I thought there might be some typo, but I got 58.600 hits of this kind of usage on searching the Google. What kind of conditional is that? Aren't we supposed to say:
... And if it hadn't (been), I don't know ...
Would anyone help me on this? Thanks!
I heard a line in "Mr. Brooks" saying:
"Your picture was in the paper. And if it hadn't have been, I don't know what I would've done."
I understand that it is a conditional, but how could "have" be following "hadn't?" I thought there might be some typo, but I got 58.600 hits of this kind of usage on searching the Google. What kind of conditional is that? Aren't we supposed to say:
... And if it hadn't (been), I don't know ...
Would anyone help me on this? Thanks!
I would certainly say "if it hadn't been." I think someone saying "if it hadn't have been" is just trying too hard. 

Kevin XI got 58.600 hits of this kind of usage on searching the Google.You can't live in the U.S. for more than a week or two without encountering this oddity. The haveis redundant, as you say. My advice would be to learn to recognize it, but not to use it yourself!

CJ
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Comments
"hadn't have been", sometimes (even more egregiously) written as "hadn't of been", is completely redundant. "If I hadn't..."or "If he hadn't been..." is completely sufficient.
The other one that more people get wrong than get right, is: "If he wouldn't have.../If I would have" when the only correct variation is "If he hadn't.../If I had...". I'm sure you've heard this before, too.
Hey thanks a lot for clarification. I saw something like this on an American page on FB and I too got confused. Searched about the same on google and got this answer. Thanks again for clarifying my doubt. ✌