To have trusted someone who betrayed us!

[Edduardo]

Hello,
Can you use the prefect infinitive in exclamatory constructions that express the inconvenience of some action that has occurred or that has been alluded to in the preceding speech, or the manifest annoyance at some state of affairs.
For example:

To have trusted someone who betrayed us!
To have said that in front of everyone!
To have married so young!

Thanks

 

[SoothingDave]

Yes. Works better with an "oh" first.

"Oh, to have been born beautiful instead of rich!"

 

[Tarheel]

Hello,
Can you use the prefect infinitive in exclamatory constructions that express the inconvenience of some action that has occurred or that has been alluded to in the preceding speech, or the manifest annoyance at some state of affairs.
For example:

To have trusted someone who betrayed us!
To have said that in front of everyone!
To have married so young!

[.........]

It wouldn't be expressing inconvenience. Perhaps dismay. Perhaps shock or surprise.

Where did you find those?

 

[Edduardo]

In Spanish you can use that construction, and I wanted to know if in English you could do the same.

 

[Edduardo]

Now, can you use the gerund in the same context?
For example:

Yelling at a little kid like that!
Wasting so much money on that dress!
Judging people without really knowing them!

 

[Tarheel]

I'm not sure what the point is, but those seem like unlikely sentences. (See below.)

What a waste! That's too much money to spend on a dress.

"What a waste!" is an example of a natural exclamation. (See below.)

How horrible!
That's terrible!
No kidding!
What an idiot!
You're a liar!
I hate you!

 

[Edduardo]

If I try to convey a similar meaning, do these would be more natural?

That's terrible! You don't yell at a little kid like that!
That's so unfair! You don't judge people without really knowing them!

 

[Tarheel]

If I WANT to convey a similar meaning, do these SOUND more natural?

That's terrible! You don't yell at a little kid like that!
That's so unfair! You don't judge people without really knowing them!

That's better! Much better!

 

[Edduardo]

Thank you!