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Here is a scenario: suppose I am going somewhere with my friend. And my friend gets into an argument with a few guys that leads to a fight. And I have nothing to do with it. But they start beating us. And suddenly my friend flees the scene. Now I want to ask him in a complex sentence why he left me alone to be beaten.

  1. Having me been beaten, why did you run away?

  2. Having had me been beaten, why did you run away?

  3. Having had me beaten, why did you run away?

Or any other suggestion how to say this.

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    Only 3 is grammatically correct, but I don't like the choice of the verb had. Usually you'd only say, "my friend had me beaten," if the friend hired some some people to beat you up, but was not directly involved himself. In your scenario, I'd be more likely to use the verb to get, which can mean "to cause to be in a certain position or condition". "Having gotten me beaten, why did you run away?" Commented Apr 18, 2018 at 19:46

2 Answers 2

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The best way to say this is in your question, but it’s not any of your 3 sentences:

Why did you leave me alone to be beaten?

If you insist on using a complex sentence, you could say something like:

Once they were beating us, why did you leave me to be beaten?

or:

Once they had jumped us, why did you leave me all alone?

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Having had me beaten, why did you run away?

This sentence is the only grammatically correct one. However, native speakers usually would not speak like this because it is very formal, but it is hard to speak with complex sentences in a situation like yours, so your sentence is okay.

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  • Although as Canadian Yankee points out, had is also an odd choice - it implies that your friend directed that you be beaten.
    – stangdon
    Commented Apr 18, 2018 at 20:28

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