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Louis
why present perfect in sentence ... please ?
Can someone please help with this:
My grammar book says it should be:
'the first settlers *to have visited *Europe were from the East'
Can someone explain (1) why 'present perfect' here? and (2) why not 'who visited'.
Thank you in advance.
Mar 3, 2015 10:42 AM
Answers · 4
1
It isn't a present perfect form at all - 'to have visited' is the past form of the infinitive 'to visit'
'John was the first guest [to arrive]' means that he was the first guest who arrived.
'The first settlers [to have visited]' is a similar construction. It means 'who visited', but it's a neater expression.
March 3, 2015
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Louis
Language Skills
English, French, German, Italian
Learning Language
Italian
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