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Use of perfect infinitives: glad to have left

Perfect or past meaning​

Perfect infinitives (to have gone, to have left, etc) can have the same kind of meaning as perfect or past tenses.

  • I’m glad to have left school at last. (= I’m glad that I have left …)
  • She was sorry to have missed James. (= … that she had missed James.)
  • We hope to have finished the job by next Saturday. (= … that we will have finished …)

Perfect infinitive for ‘unreal’ past​

After some verbs (e.g. mean, be, would like), perfect infinitives can refer to ‘unreal’ past situations that are the opposite of what really happened.

  • I meant to have telephoned, but I forgot. (or I meant to telephone …)
  • He was to have been the new ambassador, but he fell ill.
  • I would like to have seen Harry’s face when Nadia walked in.

With would like, would prefer and one or two other verbs, a double perfect infinitive is sometimes used in informal speech; the extra perfect infinitive does not change the meaning.

  • I would have liked to have seen Harry’s face.

Modals: He could have killed himself.​

After the modal verbs could, might, ought, should, would and needn’t (BrE), perfect infinitives are also often used to refer to unreal situations.

  • Did you see him fall? He could have killed himself. (He did not kill himself.)
  • You should have called – I was getting worried. (The person did not call.)
  • I would have gone to university if my parents had had more money.
  • She needn’t have sent me flowers. (BrE) (She did send flowers.)

Modal verbs with perfect infinitives can also refer to situations that are not unreal, but uncertain.

  • She could/should/ought to/may/will/must have arrived by now.
note

For more details, see the entries for the different modal verbs.