To have met VS to had met

Question

I just simply cannot get my head around why sentence (2) is incorrect. I know it is, but god help me if I had to explain why to someone. Any help?

(1) I'm so happy to have met you.

(2) I'm so happy to had met you.

Thanks

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

Situation: a prisoner is released from jail.

He says: "I'm so happy to be free."

Happy can be followed by an infinitive. The infinitive is "to" + base form of the verb.

Other infinitive forms can follow "happy", in particular the passive infinitive, the progressive infinitive and the perfect infinitive. Infinitives also have passive forms.

Here are examples of what the prisoner might say:

I am happy to be released from prison. (passive infinitive)
I am happy to be going home now. (progressive infinitive)

Like the perfect tenses, the perfect infinitive is formed with "have" and the past participle of the lexical verb.

I am happy to have received a pardon from the president. (perfect infinitive)
I am happy to have been selected for release from prison. (perfect passive infinitive)

Whatever form of the infinitive is used, it is always followed by the base form of the verb. The verb can be the main verb or a helping verb such as be or have.

Sentence #2 is ungrammatical because it has the past form of "have" after the particle (infinitive marker) "to."

To have met VS to had met

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