Question about sentences

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Dear all,I would like to know the meaning of the following sentences. Are they Perfect Infinitive sentences or Conditional Sentences of any sort?1) Poor old Tom! I would hate to have been in his position. (Is this a Conditional Sentence of any sort or Perfect Infinitive sentence?)2) I would love to have gone to the party but it was impossible. (Meaning is not clear for me.)3) We would like to have gone on holiday but we didn't have enough money. (Meaning is not clear for me.)4) It is a pity we didn't see Mary when we were in London. I would like to have seen her again. (Meaning is not clear for me.)Thank you.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

to have been, to have gone, to have taken, to have seen, to have known, ...

These are all perfect infinitives. All four of your sentences contain perfect infinitives. We don't say "This is a perfect infinitive sentence". We say, "This sentence contains a perfect infinitive".

The only conditional aspect of these sentences is implicit. Although we might imagine them, there are no if-clauses. The whole point of 'would' in these sentences is to show that the speaker is imagining the feeling that he would experience if he were in the position described. He does not have those feelings, but he imagines that he would have them if he were in the given situation. Very frequently 'would' indicates the use of the imagination.

cat navy 4251) Poor old Tom! I would hate to have been in his position.

I would have hated being in Tom's position (if I had been in his position, but I wasn't). ~ I would have hated to be in Tom's position ...

cat navy 4252) I would love to have gone to the party but it was impossible.

I would have loved going to the party (if I had been able to go, but I was not able to go). ~ I would have loved to go ...

cat navy 4253) We would like to have gone on holiday but we didn't have enough money.

We would have liked to go on holiday (if ... money, but ...).
[You can fill in the details.]

cat navy 4254) It is a pity we didn't see Mary when we were in London. I would like to have seen her again.

I would have liked seeing Mary again (if I had done that, but I didn't).

love, like, and hate allow both the -ing form and the to form. That's why you can have both love going and love to go, etc.

CJ

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