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Witiko Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
Future perfect infinitive?
When guiding two english tourists through caves I said something like this:
"There is a stalagmite shaped like a huge heart which is believed to will have granted you a wish by the next year given you keep the wish secret for at least that one year and touch it with your left hand."
Yet I never learned anything about a "future perfect infinitive", I believe the only infinitives are the classic one and the perfect one. However, it seemed as the only sensible way to abbreviate the sentence.
Another example:
Unabbreviated, It is believed that you will have been sleeping by the time I arrive. - All okay, but It is believed sounds just wrong.
Abbreviated, You are believed to will have been sleeping by the time I arrive. - Sounds nice, but ... is it right?
"There is a stalagmite shaped like a huge heart which is believed to will have granted you a wish by the next year given you keep the wish secret for at least that one year and touch it with your left hand."
Yet I never learned anything about a "future perfect infinitive", I believe the only infinitives are the classic one and the perfect one. However, it seemed as the only sensible way to abbreviate the sentence.
Another example:
Unabbreviated, It is believed that you will have been sleeping by the time I arrive. - All okay, but It is believed sounds just wrong.
Abbreviated, You are believed to will have been sleeping by the time I arrive. - Sounds nice, but ... is it right?
Top answer
" "to will have granted" is ungrammatical. There is no such infinitive form. You could say "which, it is believed, will have granted you a wish", but it is not clear to me that you need the future perfect sense at all in this sentence.
- " "to will have granted" is ungrammatical.
- There is no such infinitive form.
- You could say "which, it is believed, will have granted you a wish", but it is not clear to me that you need the future perfect sense at all in this sentence.
- "will have granted" implies that the wish will be granted before the year is through, which doesn't fit with the condition that you must have kept it secret for the whole year.
- An unrelated problem is that "touch it with your left hand" seems to be talking about the wish, not the stalagmite.
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9 Answers
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Witiko"There is a stalagmite shaped like a huge heart which is believed to will have granted you a wish by the next year given you keep the wish secret for at least that one year and touch it with your left hand.""to will have granted" is ungrammatical. There is no such infinitive form. You could say "which, it is believed, will have granted you a wish", but
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Hi,
When guiding two english tourists through caves I said something like this:
"There is a stalagmite shaped like a huge heart which is believed to will have granted you a wish by the next year given you keep the wish secret for at least that one year and touch it with your left hand."
Yet I never learned anything about a "future perfect infinitive"
When guiding two english tourists through caves I said something like this:
"There is a stalagmite shaped like a huge heart which is believed to will have granted you a wish by the next year given you keep the wish secret for at least that one year and touch it with your left hand."
Yet I never learned anything about a "future perfect infinitive"
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Thank you for your answer. Is it supposed to mean that there is no grammatical way of abbreviating a sentence in the future perfect tense using an infinitive?
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I mean I believe you will be sleeping when I arrive ergo I believe you will have already been sleeping by the time I arrive.
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WitikoThank you for your answer. Is it supposed to mean that there is no grammatical way of abbreviating a sentence in the future perfect tense using an infinitive?There is no future perfect infinitive form, no.
WitikoI mean I believe you will be sleeping when I arrive ergo I believe you will have already been sleeping by the time I ar
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Hi,
I believe you will be sleeping when I arrive ergo I believe you will have already been sleeping by the time I arrive.
Please also note that these two versions have different meanings.
The former means I believe I will arrive and find you sleeping.
The latter suggests I believe the sleeping will happen before I arrive but t
I believe you will be sleeping when I arrive ergo I believe you will have already been sleeping by the time I arrive.
Please also note that these two versions have different meanings.
The former means I believe I will arrive and find you sleeping.
The latter suggests I believe the sleeping will happen before I arrive but t
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Yes, using the asleep adjective instead would probably do the trick. Thank you for answering my question.
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Hi,
I believe you will be sleeping when I arrive
Yes, using the asleep adjective instead would probably do the trick.
But the above is also very commonly said.
Thank you for answering my question. You're welcome.
Clive
I believe you will be sleeping when I arrive
Yes, using the asleep adjective instead would probably do the trick.
But the above is also very commonly said.
Thank you for answering my question. You're welcome.
Clive
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I'm sure it is, the sentence above is more of a proof of concept, the future perfect tense is used quite rarely.
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