Perfect infinitive (to have done)
Perfect infinitive (to have done) means “Perfect infinitive: to have + past participle, showing an action that happened before the time of the main verb”. We form the perfect infinitive with to have + past participle. Formation: to have + past participle
Perfect infinitive: to have + past participle, showing an action that happened before the time of the main verb
B2Formation
to have + past participle
Explanation
We form the perfect infinitive with to have + past participle. It shows that its action came before the time of the main verb: I'm glad to have met you (first I met you, now I'm glad). It often follows adjectives such as glad, sorry and lucky, and verbs like seem, appear, pretend and claim: She seems to have forgotten my name. Compare the plain infinitive to meet, which points to the same time as, or later than, the main verb.
Examples
Note
After seem, appear, pretend and claim, the perfect infinitive is the usual way to point back to an earlier event: He claims to have finished (= he says he finished).
FAQ
Perfect infinitive (to have done) — what does it mean and how is it used?
Perfect infinitive: to have + past participle, showing an action that happened before the time of the main verb. We form the perfect infinitive with to have + past participle. It shows that its action came before the time of the main verb: I'm glad to have met you (first I met you, now I'm glad). It often follows adjectives such as glad, sorry and lucky, and verbs like seem, appear, pretend and claim: She seems to have forgotten my name. Compare the plain infinitive to meet, which points to the same time as, or later than, the main verb.
Perfect infinitive (to have done) — how do you form it?
to have + past participle
Perfect infinitive (to have done) — any usage notes?
After seem, appear, pretend and claim, the perfect infinitive is the usual way to point back to an earlier event: He claims to have finished (= he says he finished).