Author Topic: How to use to have been and having been  (Read 48742 times)

Justine A.

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How to use to have been and having been
« on: August 15, 2011, 09:02:35 PM »
Hello Sir!

How can we properly use the perfect infinitive "to have been" and perfect gerund "having been" in the sentence.

Joe Carillo

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Re: How to use to have been and having been
« Reply #1 on: August 16, 2011, 10:20:18 AM »
Here are the proper uses of those grammatical forms:

USAGE OF THE PERFECT INFINITIVE “TO HAVE BEEN”:

The perfect infinitive “to have been” is used (1) as a noun form to denote a hypothetical state or condition in the past, or (2) as a noun form to denote a previous state or action that is no longer subsisting.

Usage 1. As noun form to denote a hypothetical state or condition in the past, or a state or condition in the past that has been determined to be true only now:
1.   “To have been her student would have done wonders for me.” (as subject of sentence)
2.   “It’s a nice thought to have been her student.” (as complement)
3.   “The ultra-savvy investment advisor was found to have been a fraud all along.” (as adverbial modifier)

Usage 2. As noun form to denote a state or action in the past that is no longer subsisting (used with the passive form of such telling verbs as “say,” “believe,” “consider,” “assume,” “suppose,” and “think”):
1.   “She is reputed to have been a great beauty in the 1960s.”
2.   “Houdini is believed to have been the greatest escape artist of all time.”

USAGE OF THE PERFECT GERUND “HAVING BEEN”:
The perfect gerund “having been” denotes a state or condition that no longer subsists at the time of speaking, as in the following examples:
1.   “Having been a student journalist is a big advantage to mass communication majors.” (perfect gerund as subject of the sentence)
2.   “The former long-reigning monarch hated having been deposed.” (perfect gerund as direct object of the verb)
3.   “Edna seldom talked about having been a beauty queen.” (perfect gerund as object of the preposition “about”)

« Last Edit: March 30, 2019, 06:11:11 PM by Joe Carillo »