I wonder why it is correct to say:
I would like to have come but I was not informed.
Wouldn't it be better to say: I would have liked to come? (I found many examples on Google).
Is there a difference between the two? Thanks.
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1 Answer
There is a difference in principle. I would like to have come describes the speaker’s feelings at the time of speaking, whereas I would have liked to come describes the speaker’s feelings at a certain time in the past. In practice, however, many speakers will use one or the other without making any such distinction.
answered Feb 8, 2014 at 18:50
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2Or one could say, as I probably would have: 'I would have liked to have come', thus covering all bases.– WS2Feb 8, 2014 at 20:43
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Thank you. So it is just a matter of perspective, since both "I would like to have come" and "I would have liked to come" refer to an event in the past, but the feelings towards the event are different (in the first case the feelings refer to the present situation, in the second case the feelings refer to the past and now the speaker does not feel regret). Did I get it right?– carrieFeb 8, 2014 at 21:12
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Mark Liberman discusses the question at some length here: languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3941 Feb 8, 2014 at 22:14