To have asked Julio for his help would have been difficult

[Boris Tatarenko]

I've just found this strange sentence in my grammar book called "English Grammar Today Workbook by Cambridge".
Honestly, I have no the slightest idea what it is supposed to mean. If you're wondering whether it's a standalone setence or not - yes, it is.

To have asked Julio for his help would have been difficult.

 

[Matthew Wai]

It would have been difficult to have asked Julio for his help.

 

[Boris Tatarenko]

What is the point of "have asked"? Why would somebody say something like this? Does it mean the same as "it'd have been difficult to ask Julio for his help"?

 

[Matthew Wai]

I have asked Julio for his help because I have his number.
It would have been difficult to have asked Julio for his help if I had lost his number.
To have asked Julio for his help would have been difficult if I had lost his number.

 

[Boris Tatarenko]

I'd not say something like this.

If I had lost Julio's number, it would have been difficult to ask him for help.

What's the difference between "to have asked" and "to ask" in the sentece above?

 

[Matthew Wai]

The perfect infinitive denotes you have already done so.

 

[emsr2d2]

In BrE, it would be acceptable to say "It would have been difficult to ask Julio for his help".

 

[GoesStation]

What is the point of "have asked"? Why would somebody say something like this? Does it mean the same as "it would [STRIKE]it'd[/STRIKE] have been difficult to ask Julio for his help"?

Note my correction above.

 

[Weaver67]

I've just found this strange sentence in my grammar book called "English Grammar Today Workbook by Cambridge".
Honestly, I have no the slightest idea what it is supposed to mean. If you're wondering whether it's a standalone setence or not - yes, it is.

To have asked Julio for his help would have been difficult.

Back to the original sentence though, I would say that it makes perfect sense as a standalone sentence. In my opinion, it means that the author of these words did not, in fact, ask Julio for his help although he might have done it.

What is the point of "have asked"? Why would somebody say something like this? Does it mean the same as "it'd have been difficult to ask Julio for his help"?

This is, again, to emphasize that something that might have happened did not happen, as opposed to the 'general theory', as it were, that 'it would have been difficult to ask Julio'.

Not a teacher.