hadn't

See also: hadnt

English

Alternative forms

• hadna, hadnae (nonstandard or dialectal)
• hant, hedn't (pronunciation spellings)

Etymology

had +‎ -n't

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhæd(ə)nt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Verb

hadn't

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

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.