Hi,
Please what name or general name can one give to this:
- The man had “to had been told”.
One more help.
Hi,
Please what name or general name can one give to this:
- The man had “to had been told”.
One more help.
Hi,
Please what name or general name can one give to this:
- The man had “to had been told”.
One more help.
The general name I’d give that is ‘incorrect’, Ebenezer 
I presume you mean:
The man had to have been told.
It is not possible to form infinitives with “to had”. In fact, I cannot think of any situation in which “to had…” would be correct (apart from “trick” answers like “the school I went to had 1,000 pupils”, where “to” and “had” are part of different phrases).
‘Absurd’.
The man had to be told should convey what is meant. The infinitive marker (to) will always be followed by a root (original) form of the verb. The word ‘to’ will also function as a preposition. The difference needs to be noted.
[quote=“Beeesneees”]
The general name I’d give that is ‘incorrect’, Ebenezer
Beees, I love your statement
In fact I have laughed upon reading it
I presume you mean:
The man had to have been told.
Yes I mean that, Beees. thanks.
Dozy God bless!
Mr T.H, your note is digested. Thanks!
Mr. Adu:
Would this dialogue be helpful?
Cop (police officer) #1. Did anyone see that bad guy yesterday?
Cop #2: As far as I know, nobody saw the bad guy yesterday.
Cop #3: That is impossible. Someone must have seen him yesterday.
Cop #4: I agree. He had to have been seen by someone yesterday!
Thanks Dozy, I understand now.
Hello Mr.James M. I want to inform you that your this story makes me more clear.
Big thanks Mr. James you have always be of help to me, but I have a brief conversation:
Producer: (on phone) hello Eben please I have finished producing your watches you ordered as you know they’re eight in quantity . But can I send it to your house?
Eben: If you wouldn’t mind.
(Eben has reached home)
Eben: has the producer brought my eight watches?.
Son: No, its seven in quantity
.
Eben: Shucks! this guy had to have told me lies! I 've got to phone him!.
Please am I right with this usage?
Thank you very much for your kind words.
Thank you, Mr. Adu.
I do not want to give you any incorrect information.
So I shall wait with you for a language coach to answer your excellent question.
James
“had to have told me lies” is OK in conversational English, meaning “must have told me lies”.
[quote=“T_H_Lawrence”]
[quote=“Ebenezer Adu”]
Hi,
[b]The man had to be told
Is the following the present version of the above?:
- The man have to be told.
Please confirm.
The present version should be “The man has to be told”.
The man had to be told.
Is the following the present version of the above?:
- The man [color=red]have to be told.
====================
‘The man’ is singular in number, so the verb that follows should also be singular. The sentence you have written will, therefore, change into :
The man has to be told. (This is in the present form, but the action expected might be complete only later)
By the way, “The men have to be told” can be an alternative.
Thanks. Dozy and T.H.
So is that construaction a PRESENT PERECT?
No, it’s the present-tense passive form of the expression “to have to (do something)”.
Someone has to tell the man -> The man has to be told
The present perfect (completely different meaning of course) would be:
Someone has told the man -> The man has been told
NO. If it is He [color=green]has got to be told, then you may call it ‘present perfect’. ‘He has had to be told’ is also possible.
In my opinion that is not present perfect either.