"having + past participle" vs gerund?

Question

What is the difference in meaning between:

1. I remember having visited your sister in France.
2. I remember visiting your sister in France.

When should I use one, and when should I use the other? Also, does the first form have a name?

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This answer (Having+past participle as a gerund) seems to ask the same question, but it doesn't seem to address the difference between having + past participle, versus using a gerund.

This answer (When can I use "having + past participle"?) asks the same question, but the answer doesn't clarify when to use one vs the other.

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Additional Extra Question: There is no stackexchange site for questions asking for comparison and contrast between two languages, but I had great success on one of my early questions here on ELL.stackexchange asking for a comparison between English and the Romance langauges, so I will risk asking this here.

The reason I even thought to ask this question is because I just learned that French has a similar construction. I didn't even realize that "having + past participle" was a construction in my own (English) language, until now!

If anyone can tell me if meaning and usage between these two constructions is identical, between French and English, I would appreciate that.

Answer 1

The difference becomes clearer when you use different verbs but the same formation:

"I regretted having programmed the doomsday device"

"I regret programming the doomsday device"

In the first the regret is in the past, it might be possible to infer that the writer still regrets programming the doomsday device from context, but that is not explicitly made clear in the sentence. In the second the regret it current.

In your example, when reporting that you previously remembered something you cannot help but remember that thing now and to state that you remember something now you must've have remembered it previously (even if it was just the instant before you spoke), so there isn't a real distinction in the meaning. However your first sentence has a literary tone, i.e. a writer may chose the first sentence over the second, whereas the first is more everyday language. I would always use the second sentence in speech as the first may come across as ever-so-slightly pretentious to some listeners.

Answer 2

First, they're both gerunds above as "having" is a gerund in that situation and so is "visiting". To answer your question: No, there is no difference in English.

I remember having visited my sister in France = I remember visiting my sister in France.

It also is translated into French the same way:

Je me souviens d'avoir rendu visite à ma soeur en France. ("avoir rendu (visite)" literally means "to have returned/paid (a visit)" or "having returned/paid (a visit)")

I shall say this, though: I'm not a native French speaker, so I could be wrong about this. I would ask a native French speaker to check my French translation above as well as my explanation that the same translation into French would occur for both forms in English; however, I am a native English speaker and I do know that having is a gerund in the gerund phrase having visited above as is visiting. I also know that they both mean the same thing in English; one is just wordier than the other one or slightly more formal. I say slightly more formal because having visited may be used more when the time of the visit is unknown or unimportant whereas visiting may occur or, at least, be more proper when the time is definitely known or important:

I remember visiting my sister last summer.

I remember having visited my sister many times over the years.

This may, however, be a distinction without a difference and I presume it is a rule that is seldom followed. I would, therefore, aver that they, for all intents and purposes, mean the same thing.

I hope this might have helped you out. Take care and good luck.

P.S. As I think about it, it may be possible to say it this way in French and I think it would mean the same as avoir rendu above:

Je me souviens de rendre visite à ma soeur en France.

If there should be any native French speakers around who know whether I am correct, let me know by way of a comment or answer. I would say it with "avoir" plus a past participle, but, again, I am not a native French speaker.