Hi pleasehelp In your sentence, "have been" is what is known as a perfect infinitive . There are some other threads here that discuss perfect infinitives. Here are a few of them:

with regards to snow falling and Mister Micawber's response. You wrote 2 is more likely than 3 but how ability and skill (which are human/animal characteristics) refer to snow?? Sunday roast. Look at the context. It is quite clear

* Can I eat my lunch here? - 5 (To me it sounds that the person is asking for permission. -- Yes . But this could also be no.7, as the person could be making a request. Is there anyway to tell?-- I see no difference in meaning between 5 and 7 here

Thank you. You wrote/corrected (with your comment): 2. This seminar could prove beneficial to those who haven't attended a school in the past. -- In the right context you could say this but as a standalone sentence the article

Is it correct to use the modal verb "would" in what looks seems to be a first conditional sentence? ... I am uneasy about using the modal verb "would" in the main clause if the if-clause is in the present tense. It's

Hello all, I have read that the verb "need" can be used in modal form only in the present tense. This makes me wonder in what tense it is in the following passage from "Jekyl and Hyde": «The letter was written in an odd,

Hi. Please help. 1. Is the use of the modal verb "would" a past of the modal "will"? The fact (part?) that is confusing me is that without further context, by the underlined sentence alone, I think the sentence would be

Could in the main clause is probably a conditional mood, isn't it? Yes. But could in the following sentence is a subjunctive, isn't it? Не would l ent lend you the book if you could call for it . It's in a subjunctive context, but I

Не would have lent you the book last week if you could have called for it . You need if you had called/asked for it or if you had been able to call/ask for it . The past perfect forms had called, had asked, and had been able are in fact called

Other than conditionals, is would considered a past tense modal? "I know he would help me." What tense is the would? would is past in form ; it's historically the past of will . But it can be used in present-tense contexts, as