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English 1b3 Posted 16 years ago
Grammar

Perfect infinitives

Please tell me the differences in meanings/times?

a. He must have believed something in order to be proven wrong about his beliefs= ?

b. He must have believed something in order to have been proven wrong about his beliefs= both in past; writing from past point of view



c. He must have done something terrible in order to cry for so long= ?

d. He must have done something terrible in order to have cried cry for so long= both in past; past point of view





Thanks
  

Top answer

A and C read to me like a timeless proving and crying.

— Mister Micawber

  • A and C read to me like a timeless proving and crying.
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6 Answers
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A and C read to me like a timeless proving and crying.
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Mister Micawbertimeless proving and crying.
Ah, righteo--that's what I was looking for. So the proving and crying start in the past and just continue on indefinitely...

Do I have b and d right?
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I read the the perfect infinitive expresses an action that happened before the main verb. In both b and d, they don't. Has what I have read just over-generalized?
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Do I have b and d right?-- About time, yes, but I don't understand what you mean by 'past point of view'. The speaker is speaking from his 'now'.

I read the the perfect infinitive expresses an action that happened before the main verb. In both b and d, they don't. Has what I have read just over-generalized?-- Dunno. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the main
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Mister MicawberAbout time, yes, but I don't understand what you mean by 'past point of view'. The speaker is speaking from his 'now'.

I think I was mixing terminology. I think I was looking for a word that describes the overall tense, to which other tenses are in relation.

Wouldn't I be right in saying the overall tense of the first is present wh
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Wouldn't I be right in saying the overall tense of the first is present while the second is past?-- You are speaking of these as the 'first' and 'second'?--

c. He must have done something terrible in order to cry for so long
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