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Yes, I am still confused with the sentences like ' to have' but not all the sentences related 'to have'. I can understand the sentences below:

I am happy to have been invited by him.

He was happy to have met Mr. Smith.

He was supposed to have married on 20 December.

You have to have made a reservation.

He must have been driven to despair to have killed her.

But I do not understand the sentences like:

It is considered normal for the people these days to have had some practical knowledge before joining some a new job.

It is better to have loved & lost than never to have lost at all.

I would have liked to have invited few people.

It would have been nice to have had great Bollywood presence. The most popular symbol of India.

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    ...than never to have loved at all.
    – TimR
    Commented Apr 6, 2017 at 11:50
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    What exactly about them don't you understand? All of them are the present perfect, have + past-participle: have been, have met, have had, have loved, have invited, etc.
    – stangdon
    Commented Apr 6, 2017 at 12:13
  • You are confusing tenses (present perfect) and its use in a broader phrase.
    – Lambie
    Commented Aug 14, 2019 at 17:08
  • The last example contains one sentence and one sentence fragment. The most popular symbol of India. is not a complete sentence.
    – user91988
    Commented Aug 14, 2019 at 18:00

3 Answers 3

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I would have liked to have invited few people.

to [verb] is an infinitive form.

have invited is the present perfect tense of invite.

A sentence with a similar meaning would be..

I wanted to invite few people.

I'll also highlight the verbs of the rest of your examples:

It is considered normal for the people these days to have had some practical knowledge before joining some a new job.

It would have been nice to have had great Bollywood presence. The most popular symbol of India.

have had is the present perfect tense of have.

It is better to have loved & [to have] lost than never to have loved at all.

These are the present perfect tenses of love and lost.

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  • I know these are the present perfect tenses but what are the meanings of them.
    – Scottish
    Commented Apr 7, 2017 at 10:07
  • to have invited a few people...
    – Lambie
    Commented Aug 14, 2019 at 18:01
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To have [pp] is simply the past infinitive.

Despite what people have said in other answers, it is not necessarily semantically "perfect": though it resembles the present perfect in syntax, it is simply past in meaning.

So

I'm happy to be invited by him.

  • non-past (present or future)

I'm happy to have been invited by him.

  • past.

I would have liked to have invited few people. = I would have liked to (be somebody who) invited a few people. (Note the word "invited" in the paraphrase is a simply past, not the past participle of the original sentence. They just happen to have the same form).

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Imo both sets of sentences, fall in the category of the subject being in a state, or wanting to be in s state.

Let's explain using a sentence that you understand and one that you are confused about:

[I am happy] to [have been invited by him.]

I have been invited (by him). That's my [state] I am happy to be in this state.

hence, I am happy to [have been invited by him]

[I would have liked] to [have invited few people.]

I did not invite few people. The [state] here is the state of [having invited few people.] I would have liked to be in that state.

hence, I would have liked to [have invited few people]

I hope this clears the intuition of these 2 sentences.

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