Questions tagged [perfect-infinitive]

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Is the use of present infinitive wrong in the sentence? Also, what are the other uses perfect infinitive?

while reading JC Nesfield, I came across a para saying "It was rude of him to have done it" is grammatically wrong and it should be written as "It was rude of him to do that". Why ...
Akshit Raj's user avatar
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1 answer
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"glad to V" vs. "glad (that) S V"

As an EFL teacher, I am currently teaching a unit on infinitives and one of the expressions covered in the textbook is "feeling adj. + inf" as in "I was glad to hear the news." In ...
JParker's user avatar
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Is this correct usage of perfect infinitive?

My question comes from this Present perfect VS infinitive verb, where they explained that the sentence He became the first 16 year old to have scored a goal for his country is grammatically incorrect ...
Denis's user avatar
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-1 votes
3 answers
370 views

Active perfect infinitive

I was happy to have finished everything early I was watching a video on active and passive infinitive and this example was in the video. I don't understand why the present perfect is used "to ...
Rich Handsome Guy's user avatar
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perfect infinitive for future events

Boss tells his workers: (1) You are to finish this project by the end of next month. (2) You are to have finished this project by the end of next month. After a while, one of the workers tells his ...
Loviii's user avatar
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1 answer
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Confusing uage of present perfect infinitive where past perfect should be used

In one of the renowned grammar books I've come across an example of confusing usage of the perfect infinitive, where in my opinion past perfect should be used instead: He is thought to have been ...
Batal96's user avatar
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5 votes
3 answers
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How to parse the grammar of a sentence that appears to have two tensed verbs

This question came from a student of mine - he wanted to know how to parse the grammar of this sentence, which appears to be simple but clearly is not: Peter seems to have found his glasses. ...
Ubu English's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
789 views

The definition of perfect infinitive?

I am following English Grammar in Use by Raymond Murphy: unit 43, and I encountered the term “perfect infinitive”. I googled this term and I found most of the results talk about the usages, not ...
Xullnn's user avatar
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Is it ok to say "something I will have come to learn later in the course"?

I have written It lacks exact references to the book, something about argumentative analysis I will have come to learn later in the course. I wonder if this is correct and what this tense would ...
Oskar Larsson's user avatar
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2 answers
2k views

"He is said to have known peo­ple" vs "He is said to know peo­ple"? [closed]

I came aross a ques­tion like this: As a pub­lic re­la­tions of­fi­cer, he is said ________ some very in­flu­en­tial peo­ple. to know to have known There are two avail­able an­swers to this ques­...
K. Ice-bear's user avatar
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1 answer
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Question tag for "you must have felt it too"?

Which of these question tags is most appropriate for There has been an earthquake. You must have felt it too, __ ? – , haven't you? – , didn't you? – , mustn't you?
user58319's user avatar
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Bare infinitive with exceptions

Reading the sentence: "We were still talking about what we should do when we heard the children shouting". in the above sentence, why don't we write "heard the children shout", as the verb 'hear' ...
user261207's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
1k views

Can "to be able to" be used in perfect infinitive?

I understand the use of perfect infinitive. The thing is that I find it awful to use "to be able to" referring to something that happened in the past. Let me elaborate with an example I just read: I ...
Elias Aued's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
750 views

"had better never have been born"

In Conan Doyle's The Greek Interpreter, a character says "If ... you had better never have been born". This sounds fine to my ear, but I believe "had have been" is generally considered incorrect. If ...
Lachlan's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
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The use of the perfect infinitive

Is there any difference between the following sentences? It would never have occurred to Stormgren, even a few days before, that he could seriously have considered the action he was planning now. ...
makarov1901's user avatar
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1 answer
414 views

Which one is correct: “to have verbed” or “verbing”?

I have two confusing sentences and I am in two minds whether the first or the second is more grammatically correct: He was by far the most knowledgeable person to have commented on the subject, so it ...
Abecedarian's user avatar
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4 answers
294 views

perfect infinitives

It is said to have been a great place. In the preceding sentence, is the perfect part of have been a great place implying that the place has been great up till now — as the sentence is in ...
rohit's user avatar
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3 answers
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Is it OK to use perfect infinitive in such cases...?

I wanted to express my disdain for certaing people and say something along the lines of "If they by any chance were to die tomorrow, I wouldn't care" (I know it's a wrong thing to say, and I'm sorry.) ...
jules's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
6k views

perfect infinitives with main verbs

My question is about usage of perfect infinitives with main verbs e.g. I would like to have lived in the 13th century. She was going to have worked in her mother's business, but decided ...
ai'leesh's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
5k views

Dare + have done

Here is an example from an old book. I know it’s old but it can’t be simply discarded, I hope. "I never dare have spoken — never dare have told you that my love for you was killing me" So, I ...
user1425's user avatar
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