a man he might have known to have lived the longest

[Ivan_I]

A bit loaded sentences, I guess. Still, do they sound correct to you?


1 I asked Marvin yesterday about a man he might have known to have lived the longest in this settlement.
2 I asked Marvin yesterday about a man to have lived the longest in this settlement of which he might be aware of.
3 I asked Marvin yesterday about a man having lived the longest in this settlement known of by Marvin.

 

[grassy]

No. They are clumsy and they have grammatical mistakes e.g. two of's in the second one, where only one is required; or the wrong use of 'having lived' in sentence 3.

 

[Ivan_I]

Well...it's not much work to get rid of one OF...

What's wrong with "having lived"?

 

[anthox]

I agree with grassy, none of these sentences sound correct, for various reasons. I'm not entirely sure what they are trying to convey. Do you mean to ask Marvin about a particular man who has lived in the settlement the longest? Or do you mean to ask Marvin which (unknown) man has lived in the settlement the longest?

 

[Ivan_I]

to ask Marvin which (unknown) man has lived in the settlement the longest?

 

[anthox]

Then I would propose:

I asked Marvin yesterday about which man had lived in the settlement the longest.

Or:

I asked Marvin yesterday which man he knew to have lived in the settlement the longest.

 

[Ivan_I]

How about this:
I asked Marvin yesterday about a man known to him who had lived in this settlement the longest.

 

[tunaafi]

Anthox's suggestions are much clearer.