To have

Using "have" that way tends to make sentences passive. I would use the following:

The first man to climb Mount Everest is Sir Edmund Hillary.

'perfect', not 'passive'!
The auxiliary for the passive is "to be"; for the perfect it's "to have".

so Califjim. what's your answer? is the first man to have climbed the Everest ... possible? if yes, what is the difference in meaning?

It's "Everest" or "Mount Everest", not "the Everest".

"first man to climb Everest" and "first man to have climbed Everest" are both correct grammatically, and they both mean the same thing. Speakers will differ as to whether they believe there is some slight difference in meaning. "to have climbed" has slightly more emphasis on the accomplishment, even the pride of such an

Hi guys,

As Jim says, different people may see slight differences here.

Hillary climbed Everest in 1953.

He is the first man to climb Everest. I'd certainly have said this in 1954.

He is the first man to have climbed Everest. I think I'd say this now, in 2005. It seems to plant the achievement more clearl

CliveHe is the first man to climb Everest. I'd certainly have said this in 1954.

Isn't this a bit redolent of future reference, in that it may come to mean a fixed plan to be implemented ahead, regarding the subject "He" doesn't necessarily refer to Edmond Hillary? One can possibily conclude equivocal connotations. am I w

Hi,

But if it were the future, would you not say something like this?

He hopes to be the first man to climb Everest.

or He is the first man to attempt to climb Everest.

Best wishes, Clive

CliveHi,

But if it were the future, would you not say something like this?

He hopes to be the first man to climb Everest.

or He is the first man to attempt to climb Everest.

Best wishes, Clive

Hi Clive,

By the way,I'm a newcomer in the forum.

Hi Kilimanjaro,

Welcome to the Forum.

Clive