having talked

[Anonymous]

Can you say both of the following when talking about a past action:
1-I disapprove of your talking to her like that.
and
2- I disapprove of your having talked to her like that.
Given that the talking was done in the past.
If so, what is the difference?

[MikeNewYork]

Can you say both of the following when talking about a past action:
1-I disapprove of your talking to her like that.
and
2- I disapprove of your having talked to her like that.
Given that the talking was done in the past.
If so, what is the difference?

The short answer is "yes". You can use either of those phrases for a past action. They have slightly different meanings because of the gerunds "talking" and "having talked". The first implies that the speaker not only disapproves of the action that already happened, but would also disapprove of a similar event in the future. The second confines the disapproval to the past event, but one could infer that the same would be true in the future, even in that case.