I agree that the first sentence is wrong.
Of course it is! I mean, both Fivejedjon and bhaisahab deemed it wrong, and they are distinguished English teachers.:up::up: I - among others, including the OP - would only like to know, why:?:
My problem is this, no matter how hard I try, I cannot reconcile it with what we had already covered. Here's the currently relevant part of it:
(Ray in blue.)
Quote:
1.) He is believed to be drunk. (= They think he is drunk (now.))
Yes. We believe he is drunk.
2.) He was believed to be drunk. (Once they thought he was drunk then.)
Yes. We believed he was drunk
3.) He is believed to have been drunk. (Now they think that once he was drunk.)
Yes. We believe he was drunk.
4.) He was believed to have been drunk. (Once they believed he had been drunk.)
Yes. We believed he had been drunk.
My question is, to put it simply, don't Nathan's sentences (
He was said to be given the prize last year. He was said to have been given the prize last year.) fall into the same category what we covered in my #2 and #4 example sentences:?: Can't the same what you told me then be applied to Nathan's question:?:
To elaborate it more:
I feel that this sentence, "He was said to be given the prize last year." falls into the same category as the following does, "He was believed to be drunk." (You agreed on this latter, "
Yes. We believed he was drunk.")
So, my understanding was (and is, to be honest
), "He was said to be given the prize last year."
= They said/we said he was given the prize. (Or maybe, "they gave him the prize", inasmuch as it makes more sense to put it in active voice instead of passive.) And this DOES make sense to me.:roll:
As for the second sentence (i.e. "
He was said to have been given the prize last year."), there's no doubt; it's fine as it is. The Perfect Infinitive implies antecedence, just as the Past Perfect would. (E.g., They said he had been given the prize.)
Thanks very much for your answer, would you please tell me why the first one is not acceptable?
I'll have to think about that - and pray that somebody else comes in quickly with an answer.
Nobody seems to have accepted the challenge. ;-)