The third conditional questions


Today while speaking to a colleague of mine I said "Had you studied well, you would have cleared the exam ". I was rebuked for not using the third conditional correctly. I was told that the correct way to express this is " if you had studied well, you would have cleared the exam".


My question here is can I not use the third conditional without an "if". Even if i say had u studied well, it means the same thing.




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