Believed to have
A total of 277 patients in the country were believed to have fallen ill for a second time, as had patients in China and Japan.
I read at new.sky.com
I don't understand the grammatical form and function of "as had". Why do we need comma before it?
I understand that "were believed" is a passive construction but unable to understand the present perfect (have fallen...) after the passive (were believed).
I don't know the difference between "believed to be vs believed to have plus past participle".
Top answer
To have fallen is not the present perfect, it's a perfect infinitive. Perfect infinitives usually refer to the past: He is believed to have known it. (People believe now that he knew it in the past:) The present infinitive would refer to the present, and sometimes to the future: He is believed to know it.
- To have fallen is not the present perfect, it's a perfect infinitive.
- Perfect infinitives usually refer to the past: He is believed to have known it.
- (People believe now that he knew it in the past:) The present infinitive would refer to the present, and sometimes to the future: He is believed to know it.
- ) As to the comma, it helps the reader understand the sentence better.
- In speech there would be a short pause.
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To have fallen is not the present perfect, it's a perfect infinitive. Perfect infinitives usually refer to the past:
He is believed to have known it. (People believe now that he knew it in the past:)
The present infinitive would refer to the present, and sometimes to the future:
He is believed to know it. (People believe now that he knows i
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