Back to the perfect infinitive using modals

THREE weeks ago we discussed the perfect infinitive as the form “to have + the past participle (‘- ed’ form)” that works with a main verb to denote the following:

(1) An action or situation that might have happened or been true in the past, as in “She declared with great fervor tohavemetall thequalifications required of presidential candidates, but that declaration has been challenged in court.” (Here, the perfect infinitive is “to have met all the qualifications” and it works with the main verb “declared.”);

(2) An action or situation to refer to an action that’s expected to be completed at some point in the future, as in “The company hopes with great expectations to have finisheditsrestructuring by April.” (Here, the perfect infinitive is “to have finished its restructuring” and it works with the main verb “hopes” to denote an action that’s expected to be completed at some stated future time); and

(3) Events that either (a) did happen in the past, as in “To haveearnedthehighesthonors inclass despite being blind was an outstanding feat.”(The blind student didget the highest honors.), or (b) that might have happened but didn’t, as in “Tohave wonthedebatingchampionship would have been great, but even landing third runner- up was a great consolation.” (The debater lost the championship). In both situations, the perfect infinitive is in the form of a clause that has a verb but without a stated subject.

Before proceeding, we need to implant in our mind that unlike the action denoted by the perfect infinitive, that of sentences using the simple infinitive coincidesor issimultaneouswiththeaction ofthemainverb, as in “They want her todrophercandidacy.” Moreover, sentences that use the perfect infinitive often mean the same as those using their perfect tense or past tense equivalent, as in “He is ecstatic tohaveattained hisquarterlysalesquota” (“He is ecstatic thathehasattainedhis quarterlysalesquota.”)

Now, we can discuss how the perfect infinitive works with the modal auxiliary verbs “could,” “would,” “might,” “ought,” “should” and “needn’t” subtly yet pointedly to denote unreal situations or — even more surprising — to express certainty. Recall that in English, we use the modal auxiliary verbs or modals for deducing or guessing or wishing that something is true using information that’s available to us the very moment of speaking. Of course, our modal of choice would show how certain we are about that possibility.

For good measure, let’s take a look at how the following “modal auxiliary + perfect infinitive” statements express blame, disapproval, or reproach about something — a promise, duty, or obligation perhaps — that was or wasn’t carried out:

“You shouldhavetoldme you were a married woman.” ( The woman didn’t.)

“We would have invested in that real estate had you offered it to us.” (The offer wasn’t made.”)

“They mighthavesurvivedthefall if the rescue team came early enough.” (The rescuers came too late.”)

“We oughttohaveleftanhour ago to catch our flight.” (We are unlikely to catch that flight.”)

The wonder of it all is that in tandem with the modals “should have” and “will have,” the perfect infinitive isn’t always used to talk about unreal past situations but to express a wished-for certainty even if just in our own mind, as in “From Wuhan, she shouldbe safeandsound in Tokyo by now.”

What this is telling us is that the perfect infinitive with modals opens very wide avenues for thought and expression and anticipation about things that happen to us not only in the past and in the present but in the future as well.

Appositives more engaging writing

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