[Grammar] regret doing or regret having done?

[eeshu]

I came upon a grammar test item, which reads I never regretted ___ the offer, for it was not where my interest lay.
a. not to accept
b. having not accepted
c. not having accepted
d. not accepting
Can anyone tell me the difference between c and d?

 

[eeshu]

I do think there's no discernible difference in these two options. But the other day I hit upon another link which seems to think differently. Here's the link https://www.usingenglish.com/forum/threads/159633-Using-regret

I have no issue with the option D (i.e. not accepting). But I can also find many examples similar to option C (i.e. not having accepted) in reputable dictionaries, as shown below:

• He bitterly regretted ever having mentioned it.
• Five years later she regrets having given up her home.

I can also find in the COCA corpus sentences with "regret having done".
So are there any stylist differences in regard to the two variant expressions?

 

[Rover_KE]

I came upon a grammar test item, which reads "I never regretted ___ the offer, for it was not where my interest lay".

(You missed out the quotation marks.)

 

[jutfrank]

The two forms are different so they do have slightly different uses. Using having + past participle gives a subtle emphasis of completion.

In the test question you provide, the simplest answer is the simple gerund not accepting. There's no apparent reason to use the more complex and nuanced not having accepted. In tests like this, the simplest answers are the best.

 

[eeshu]

The two forms are different so they do have slightly different uses. Using having + past participle gives a subtle emphasis of completion. In the test question you provide, the simplest answer is the simple gerund not accepting. There's no apparent reason to use the more complex and nuanced not having accepted. In tests like this, the simplest answers are the best.

Contrary to your idea, I can say that the test designer may have intended choice C to be the correct answer simply for the same reason that having + past participle indicates completion emphatically.

Your option for the simpler answer instead of the complex one is a test-taking strategy. But test-taking strategies as such are not always reliable, and there might be other conflicting strategies. In designing the test items, a distracting choice item looking like the correct answer would often be included, perhaps to increase the difficulty. In the case of this test question, both choices B (having not accepted) and D(not accepting) are similar to choice C (not having accepted), which in itself has already constituted a legitimate excuse for choosing C, should I follow the "distracted item is the correct answer" strategy.

That's why I wanted to know the exact meaning difference between the two choices. Your explanation is therefore not particularly convincing, as Piscean
obviously denied the difference between the two. But thank you all the same for your answer.

 

[jutfrank]

Contrary to your idea, I can say that the test designer may have intended choice C to be the correct answer simply for the same reason that having + past participle indicates completion emphatically.

I wanted to know the exact meaning difference between the two choices. Your explanation is therefore not particularly convincing,

Piscean told you that there is no significant difference, and that options C and D are both correct.

I told you the subtle difference in focus/meaning, and said there was no reason to assume an emphasis on completion.

How are we to know what the test designer is thinking? We can just tell you what the correct answers are, and when there are multiple correct answers, we can advise on selecting the best one. The question is badly designed.