Rotter  +  259821 Sun, 27 Aug 06 01:05 PM 1. He has been awarded a prize for his work on ... 2. He was to have been awarded a prize for his work on ... In the second sentence, what I want to say is this man refused to accept the award though it was announced officially. My question is the words 'have been'. I know they are correct. However, the word 'he' should combine with 'has been'. I find this odd. Your comments, please. Rotter Joined on Sun, Jul 24 2005 Japan Regular Member 655 Я люблю российских девочек.

	Mister Micawber  +  259832 Sun, 27 Aug 06 01:47 PM In #2 the operative verb is was, in concord with the subject he.  To have been is the infinitive perfective of be, here used in a passive construction.  (To be to + infinitive is a modal idiom and we have it here in the past tense.) Mister Micawber Joined on Wed, Aug 4 2004 Yokohama Veteran Member 30,780 'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master-- that's all.' Verbs, Constructions, Tenses, Modals, Past Tenses, Idioms

	Rotter  +  259884 Sun, 27 Aug 06 04:39 PM Thanks Micawber for the reply. What is the meaning of infinitive perfective? Be is the verb here. The infinitive 'to be' behaves as follows: I am/was ... You are/were ... He/She is/was ... They are/were ... Rotter Verbs

	Marius Hancu  +  259887 Sun, 27 Aug 06 04:50 PM The past tense (OK, perfect) form of the infinitive: to be -> to have been In passive: to be awarded -> to have been awarded Also, search with perfect infinitive (top right Search box) and you'll find many good threads. Marius Hancu Joined on Wed, Apr 26 2006 Veteran Member 11,673 Tenses, Past Tenses