a grammar question...

[everlasting]

The first people...............to have made chocolate were the ancient cultures of Mexico and Central America.

a)to be known
b)knew
c)to have known
d)to know
e)known

could you please explain?
thanks in advance

[Casiopea]

Ellipsis is the key. The words in brackets (...) have been omitted for the sake of efficiency:

Ex: The first people (that were) known to have made chocolate ...

The structure is, were + known (past participle)

Does that help?

[everlasting]

thanks,but i want to ask a thing
as far as i know,after ordinal number and superlatives,we use ''to infinitive''
i thought the answer was 'A'

[jagwinder]

Originally Posted by everlasting

The first people...............to have made chocolate were the ancient cultures of Mexico and Central America.

a)to be known
b)knew
c)to have known
d)to know
e)known

could you please explain?
thanks in advance

The first people.....known....to have made chocolate were the ancient cultures of Mexico and Central America.

[Casiopea]

Welcome, jagwinder.

Your contributions are welcome.

Please see post #2. Your posts need to add to the discussion, not restate information already provided.

All the best.

[Casiopea]

Originally Posted by everlasting

thanks,but i want to ask a thing
as far as i know,after ordinal number and superlatives,we use ''to infinitive''
i thought the answer was 'A'

You are absolutely correct. To be is often omitted:

a) The first people to be known to have made chocolate ...
e) The first people (to be) known to have made chocolate ...

Hope that helped. It sure helped me.

____________________
Note, there's a problem here: the first people were the ancient cultures of Mexico and Central America.

[everlasting]

so,which one must i choose?
according to your answer,both of them are correct,am i right?

[Casiopea]

Well, I found two examples of the first people to be known, but three examples of the first people that are known to have:


1. Kennedy and Johnson were the first people to be known to do that.

2. It has been said that the first people to be known as "engineers" were those working with the ancient "engines of war."

__________________________________________________ __________________________

1. The first people that are known to have settled here were a few Irish monks around the seventh century.

2. The first people that are known to have lived in Antigua are the SIBONEY or 'stone people' who were here in 1775 B.C.

3. The first people that are known to have studied and tried to understand music were these Greeks.


What are your thoughts?

[Harry Smith]

Originally Posted by everlasting

The first people...............to have made chocolate were the ancient cultures of Mexico and Central America.

a)to be known
b)knew
c)to have known
d)to know
e)known

could you please explain?
thanks in advance

The only correct answer here is (e), i.e The first people known to have made chocolate were the ancient cultures of Mexico and Central America.
You can use "to" after the first people if you begin your sentence like this:They were the first people to be known to have made chocolate.

[everlasting]

ok thanks to all:)