[General] It would have been

[Anil Giria]

It would have been easy for me to list six things.

Is this future perfect tense? What does it mean?

 

[bhaisahab]

No, it's not "future perfect tense". It means that at some time in the past you could have made a list of six things without any difficulty.

 

[Matthew Wai]

It is the modal perfect, which refers to the past. For details, see http://cordelia.typepad.com/english_today/2010/04/modal-perfect.html

 

[Anil Giria]

It is the modal perfect, which refers to the past. For details, see http://cordelia.typepad.com/english_today/2010/04/modal-perfect.html

Thanks. It was really useful.
Just to understand better, Can I say-
1) Perfect modal will always comprise the following-
Modal, Have ( as main verb) and past participle.

2) Perfect model can't be classified in different tenses. Please confirm.

2)Laura hasn't arrived yet. She could have been missed the bus.

Is this sentence correct? I understand that missed can't follow been. Please explain.

 

[bhaisahab]

2)Laura hasn't arrived yet. She could have been missed the bus.

Is this sentence correct?

No, it isn't correct. "Laura hasn't arrived yet. She could have missed the bus." This is correct.

 

[Matthew Wai]

1) Perfect modal will always comprise the following-
Modal, Have ( as main verb) and past participle.

I consider 'have' and the past participle to be an auxiliary verb and the main verb respectively.

 

[Anil Giria]

I consider 'have' and the past participle to be an auxiliary verb and the main verb respectively.

Are infinitive and auxiliary verb same?

 

[Anil Giria]

2)Laura hasn't arrived yet. She could have been missed the bus.

Is this sentence correct?

No, it isn't correct. "Laura hasn't arrived yet. She could have missed the bus." This is correct.

Is it correct to say that past participle can't follow the other past participle in any sentence? ( like "missed" after "been" in my original incorrect sentence)

 

[Matthew Wai]

Are infinitive and auxiliary verb same?

I don't think so. The 'been' below is an auxiliary verb but not an infinitive.
'I have been dismissed.'

Is it correct to say that past participle can't follow the other past participle in any sentence?

I don't think so. The past participle 'been' below is followed by another past participle 'dismissed'.
'I have been dismissed.'

 

[bhaisahab]

Is it correct to say that past participle can't follow the other past participle in any sentence? ( like "missed" after "been" in my original incorrect sentence)

No. "The sales targets have been missed three months in a row."

 

[Anil Giria]

I consider 'have' and the past participle to be an auxiliary verb and the main verb respectively.

I read the contents as given in the link (thread 3) where as "have" being considered as "infinitive". Reproduced below. Please clarify if I am missing something.

All modal perfect auxiliary verbs refer to the past.
FORM: Modal + Have (Infinitive) + Past Participle

 

[Anil Giria]

I don't think so. The 'been' below is an auxiliary verb but not an infinitive.
'I have been dismissed.'


I don't think so. The past participle 'been' below is followed by another past participle 'dismissed'.
'I have been dismissed.'

I understand "been" is past participle as given in 2nd example whereas in first example the same has considered as auxiliary verb. Please clarify.

 

[Matthew Wai]

All modal perfect auxiliary verbs refer to the past.
FORM: Modal + Have (Infinitive) + Past Participle

'Have' is an auxiliary verb in the base form (infinitive) here.

 

[Iryn_]

2)Laura hasn't arrived yet. She could have been missed the bus.

Is this sentence correct? I understand that missed can't follow been. Please explain.

I'm not a teacher, but I think it has to do with active and passive voice:
- She could have missed the bus. - Active voice; she performs the action.
and like Matthew Wai wrote:
- I have been dismissed. - Passive voice; somebody performs an action upon me.
- She could have been missed the bus. - Neither active, nor passive voice.
(so the last one isn't possible)

 

[Matthew Wai]

Neither active, nor passive voice.

I think a grammatical sentence must be either active or passive.

 

[Anil Giria]

'Have' is an auxiliary verb in the base form (infinitive) here.

I understand "Have" will always be used in base form. Am I correct?

 

[Anil Giria]

I have (auxiliary verb, present simple tense) been (auxiliary verb, third form (past participle)) dismissed (full/lexical verb, third form (past participle)).

Been will always be used as an auxiliary verb in present/past/future perfect continuous tense like have been, has been etc. Am I right? Please clarify.

 

[Anil Giria]

I have (auxiliary verb, present simple tense) been (auxiliary verb, third form (past participle)) dismissed (full/lexical verb, third form (past participle)).

Been will always be used as an auxiliary verb in present/past/future perfect continuous tense like have been, has been etc. Am I right? Please clarify.

 

[Anil Giria]

It would have been easy for me to list six things.

I would have been easily list out six things.

Are these sentences OK and do these sentences convey the same meaning?

 

[MikeNewYork]

The second is not correct.