Hi everybody,
I was studying the use of the present tenses for the future and I found that:
"We use be to for a future event that is officially arranged. It is often used in news reports."
Even if the grammar book says it I still find some of this examples very odd:
- Taxes are to go up from next April.
- The US president is to visit Ireland in the new year.
- The talks on world trade are to take place later this year.
But then, trying to find some more information about it I read this:
"Be to + passive infinitive is sometimes used to show that a planned event did not materialise."
- Sammy was to have married Sarah but then Jamie came along and the engagement ring he had given was returned.
- They were to have picked strawberries this morning, but the torrential overnight rain made the field too muddy.
Are these two sentences correct? And what is passive infinitive? Does it refers to the present perfect? Because I've never heard about it.
I was studying the use of the present tenses for the future and I found that:
"We use be to for a future event that is officially arranged. It is often used in news reports."
Even if the grammar book says it I still find some of this examples very odd:
- Taxes are to go up from next April.
- The US president is to visit Ireland in the new year.
- The talks on world trade are to take place later this year.
But then, trying to find some more information about it I read this:
"Be to + passive infinitive is sometimes used to show that a planned event did not materialise."
- Sammy was to have married Sarah but then Jamie came along and the engagement ring he had given was returned.
- They were to have picked strawberries this morning, but the torrential overnight rain made the field too muddy.
Are these two sentences correct? And what is passive infinitive? Does it refers to the present perfect? Because I've never heard about it.