Let

Let
 

Could I use live, the original form of the verb?

-John had never gone to an overseas nation, let alone __ in one.

The existence of 'gone' makes me undecided as to whether the verb should tally with 'gone'.

live/lived -- both work.

No idea why!

I would use 'lived', because it goes with 'had', the auxiliary verb that drives the use of 'gone'. The tenses should agree.

had gone ~ had lived

Excellent answer. Thank you.

:hmm:When I first saw this I thought live sounded more natural. I'm not sure but I think if you use live in this case it may be acceptable if live is a vestige of the English subjunctive.

Excellent answer. Thank you.