Would have liked to do, Would like to have done

Cool BreezeI am interested in all opinions from all corners of the Anglo-Saxon world on the following:

1. I would have liked to see him. I can't make this sound right.
2. I would like to have seen him. Even to this day, I regret that I missed the opportunity. But still, this is a stretch.
3. I w

Grammar Geek

Cool BreezeI am interested in all opinions from all corners of the Anglo-Saxon world on the following:

1. I would have liked to see him. I can't make this sound right.
2. I would like to have seen him. Even to this day, I regret that I missed the opportunity. But still,

Philip "I would have eaten an apple (but there wasn't one)."

But that's not the tense: I would have have liked to eat an apple is parallel. Perhaps it's right, but it sounds wrong to me. You're talking about a time in the past.

3 may have too much verb for your taste, but you're using those verbs to show

If you just Google them, (which I just don't trust in this case) you'll get--

I would have liked to have seen him. = 946

I would like to have seen him. = 838

I would have liked to see him. = 22,300

No help, I fear.

"I would have liked to see him" sounds fine to me.

But the easiest way to translate what I suppose is the meaning of these sentences is "I wish I had seen him".

Here are my analyses:

1. "I would have liked to see him."
This sounds wrong because of how the verbs are used. If you look at the phrase "I would have liked..." you will see that this sets the sentence as being (a) conditional and (b) in the past - "would have " = conditional; "liked" = past participle.

So, when you add on "...to see him," the tense has changed. Thi

Here are my analyses:

1. "I would have liked to see him."
This sounds wrong because of how the verbs are used. If you look at the phrase "I would have liked..." you will see that this sets the sentence as being (a) conditional and (b) in the past - "would have " = conditional; "liked" = past participle.

So, when you add on "...to see him," the tense has change

Context is the key more than tense consistency.

Example number 1: If I had not been warned that he was a scoundrel, I would have liked seeing/ to see him.

Example number 2: Grammar Geek has already explained the meaning.

Context is the key more than tense consistency

Yes. My point about tense consistency was more a perceptual and stylistic view. Most style guides suggest not changing text within a single sentence. Thus my preference for the full-blown "I would have liked to have seen him" version.

SiggyHere are my analyses:

1. "I would have liked to see him."

This sounds wrong because of how the verbs are used. If you look at the phrase "I would have liked..." you will see that this sets the sentence as being (a) conditional and (b) in the past - "would have " = conditional; "liked" = past participle.

So, when you add on "...