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Anonymous Posted 10 years ago
Grammar

Was to vs was to have

What is the difference in the meaning between following sentences:

> 1. John was to have picked strawberries yesterday but the downpour made the field too muddy.

> 2. John was to pick strawberries yesterday but the downpour made the field too muddy.

(Source: modified example from BBC )

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv103.shtml)

I've read in Learn English BBC that the form "was to" and "was to have" is used for past plan which wasn't fullfiled.
But What I haven't understood is that these form look similar to me. I'm in a dillema which one (was to, or was to have) is used for past plan and which one is for unfullfilled past plan.

So, what is the differences between the construction was/were to ...* and *was/were to have + past participle?

I would appreciate for your helpfull answer
  

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