It was thought (by many) to have been written by Michael.

Question

It was thought (by many) to have been written by Michael.I hope the above sentence is correct. The construction was thought is in passive past tense and have been written is in passive present perfect tense.I don't understand why past tense is mixed with present tense. Please help me.

Cool Breeze · Accepted Answer

The sentence is grammatically correct, Jackson, and completely in accordance with English grammatical rules and practices. To have been written is a passive perfect infinitive. There are only two infinitives in English and they can be used in both active and passive. As a rule, the present infintive refers to the present and the future and the perfect infinitive refers to the past:

Active, present infinitive:
I would write it down.
He may come tomorrow.
I want to say something.
It's easy to speak English.

Passive, present infinitive:
It should be written down.
He won't be caught.
To be seen is not the same as to be caught.

Active, perfect infintive:
I would have written it down.
To have loved and lost is better than never to have loved at all.

Passive, perfect infinitive:
It was thought to have been written by Michael.
Something should have been done earlier.
They may have been seen at the station.

CB

Jackson6612 · Answer

It was thought (by many) to have been written by Michael.

In the above sentence:

It is used as a subject.

was is an auxiliary verb showing simple past tense and thought is a past participle serving the function of the main verb with reference to some past action.

to have been, as CB says, is a perfect infinitive and written is a past participle.

Is what I say above correct?

You should be going now.

In the above sentence:

should is a modal verb.

be is an auxiliary verb and going a main verb.

Is my description correct?

Cool Breeze · Answer

Jackson6612
Is what I say above correct?

Is my description correct?

I see nothing worth arguing.

CB

Marius Hancu · Answer

You can also say that:
"should be"
is a subjunctive form of the verb "to be."

Jackson6612 · Answer

What kind of mood does should represent?

Marius Hancu · Answer

should be
is
subjunctive mood

Anonymous · Answer

CB wrote: ''As a rule, the present infintive refers to the present and the future and the perfect infinitive refers to the past.''

I'm changing my original sentence to the present tense:

It is thought (by many) to have been written by Michael.

to have been is perfect infinitive but here it refers to the present. Isn't it in conflict with what CB said above?

Jackson6612 · Answer

CB wrote: ''As a rule, the present infintive refers to the present and the future and the perfect infinitive refers to the past.''

I'm changing my original sentence to the present tense:

It is thought (by many) to have been written by Michael.

to have been is perfect infinitive but here it refers to the present. Isn't it in conflict with what CB said above?

Cool Breeze · Answer

Jackson6612CB wrote: ''As a rule, the present infintive refers to the present and the future and the perfect infinitive refers to the past.''

It is thought (by many) to have been written by Michael.

to have been is perfect infinitive but here it refers to the ~~present~~. past. Isn't it in conflict with what CB said above? No, because it refers to the past, not the present.

CB

Jackson6612 · Answer

Cool Breeze
Jackson6612CB wrote: ''As a rule, the present infintive refers to the present and the future and the perfect infinitive refers to the past.''

It is thought (by many) to have been written by Michael.

to have been is perfect infinitive but here it refers to the ~~present~~. past. Isn't it in conflict with what CB said above? No, because it refers to the past, not the present.
CB

Sorry, CB.

I'm sure you are correct. But let me take this opportunity to learn some more things.

Question 1:

Change the original sentence to active voice:
Many think that Michael wrote it.

Is my conversion to active voice correct?

Question 1:

Do the following sentences mean the same thing?

1: It is thought (by many) to have been written by Michael.
2: It is thought (by many) that it has been written by Michael.

It was thought (by many) to have been written by Michael.

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