He's the oldest athlete to win

[ademoglu]

Hi,

- He's the oldest athlete ever to win an Olympic gold medal. (= ... who has ever...)

Michael Swan's "Practical English Usage," page 259.

I would like to ask why the author writes, "to win" but not "to have won" - which refers to up to now. Can we use an infinitive to refer to perfect tenses like that?

- He's the oldest athlete ever to have won an Olympic gold medal.

Thanks.

 

[ademoglu]

But according to the same book, "he's" refers to "he is" or "he has." (page 121)

P.S. I have also found this http://forum.wordreference.com/threads/is-hes-used-as-an-abbreviation-for-he-was.502029/

 

[ademoglu]

So, what about the question in post 1?

 

[ademoglu]

Yes, it can. I was talking only of is/was.Did you notice that most of the members of that forum agreed that he's was not used as a written contraction of he was?

I wrote them to Matthew, but not to you. By the way, thanks for the answers.

 

[Matthew Wai]

Is it OK to say 'He is the oldest athlete to have won an Olympic gold medal'?

 

[ademoglu]

- He's the oldest athlete ever to win an Olympic gold medal. (= ... who has ever won)

But I cannot still understand why the infinitive refers to perfect tense. Is it because of the word 'ever'? Without it, can't we say that "He's the oldest athlete to win an Olympic gold" means "He's the oldest athlete who will win an Olypic medal"?

What I mean, how we can determine the infinitive refers to the perfect tense?

 

[Matthew Wai]

I asked the question in my post#9 because I found the following example:
'If you want to emphasise his current status as the first person, then you can use the present tense, but with a perfect infinitive: "He is the first person to have reached the South Pole". '── quoted from http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/64380/he-was-the-first-person-vs-he-is-the-first-person

 

[ademoglu]

I feel so confused.

 

[Rover_KE]

`
It's no wonder you're confused. Much of the above is less than helpful.

- He's the oldest athlete ever to win an Olympic gold medal. (= ... who has ever...)

Michael Swan's "Practical English Usage," page 259.

Can we use an infinitive to refer to perfect tenses like that?

- He's the oldest athlete ever to have won an Olympic gold medal.

Michael Swan chose his title carefully. He is giving you the practical* English usage of a very common phrase.

Your alternative is also just fine.


*

practical adj

• of, involving, or concerned with experience or actual use; not theoretical
• of or concerned with ordinary affairs, work, etc
• adapted or adaptable for use
• of, involving, or trained by practice
• being such for all useful or general purposes; virtual

(Collins. My emphasis.)

 

[Tdol]

Is it OK to say 'He is the oldest athlete to have won an Olympic gold medal'?

It is OK, especially if he did it some time ago IMO.

 

[Matthew Wai]

"He's the oldest athlete to win an Olympic gold" means "He's the oldest athlete who will win an Olypic medal"

If it was the intended meaning, I think it should be 'He will be the oldest athlete to win...', but I am not a teacher.

I cannot still understand...

I would say 'still cannot' instead of 'cannot still".