English Grammar Uncertainty

Question

For a long time now, I have wondered which word order is correct or if both are. (I have also seen past perfect used with both verbs in this kind of sentence, but I believe this is incorrect):

I would have loved to go to the cinema with you

or

I would love to have gone to the cinema with you

good question. Your English is excellent by the way - billygoat, Dec 19, 2011

billy, julian is my all time favourite American, jeje, he just speaks almost fluent Spanish, such a cheat, jeje, hola juli, cielo, ya no me dices cosas bonitas,:::sigh::: :) - 00494d19, Dec 19, 2011

lol!!!!! I have read many of his Spanish answers and just assumed he was a native Spanish speaker! - billygoat, Dec 19, 2011

Great question :) - FELIZ77, Dec 19, 2011

Your Spanish is a great inspiration to me Julian/ Tu español es una inspiración grande para mi, Julian - FELIZ77, Dec 19, 2011

Answer 1

Both are correct, but the tenses of the sentences are different.

I would love....to have (just puts what you would love into a perfect tense)

me gustaría.....

I would have loved..... whatever (conditional past perfect tense)

me hubiera/habría gustado

Answer 2

Both are correct.

To show how the first one is correct, if some people were talking about a movie that they saw last night, someone that couldn't make it might say:

I would have loved to go!

Answer 3

They are both correct but mean quite different things.

I would have loved to go to the cinema with you

Refers to the desire (to accompany you) that I had at the time that you went (in the past).

I would love to have gone to the cinema with you

Expresses my current regret that I did not go with you. Perhaps, at that time I had no wish to go but later found out that it was a very good movie.

Excellent explanation. :-) - Stadt, Dec 19, 2011

This makes sense - 005faa61, Dec 19, 2011

Answer 4

I would have loved to go to the cinema with you

• this one sounds to me like you're talking to someone about to go to the movies but you can't go and you're stressing the fact that there's a reason why not.

And your second one would work there too, I would love to have gone to the cinema with you

But for me if they have already been and you're talking to thema after the fact then I would say:

I would have loved to have gone to the cinema with you.

Hey, Kiwi -- "them" magically turned into "thema" (right above the happy face). I think the happy face did it? - territurtle, Dec 20, 2011

Answer 5

I would have loved to go to the cinema with you

or

I would love to have gone to the cinema with you

The second one: I would love to have gone sounds better to me. Both are used but the first one sounds as if it is missing something

May I suggest another alternative?

I would have loved to have been able to go to the cinema with you I know this is more wordy but this is also correct and certainly sounds better than the first sentence..

Julian, I find from experience, as a native English speaker, that the phrases that seem to increase in popularity are not necessarily those that are closest to being grammatically correct but those which trip of the tongue most easily and sound more natural. Some of these are grammatically correct and others like the first one sound unnatural to a native like myself; they seem somewhat clumsy, lacking a finesse/finishing touch if you pardon the expression.

I hope this helps

Thank you for your recent confirmation of one of my responses in Spanish It encouraged me greatly to know there was nothing to correct (hay nada que corregir)

Answer 6

I'm with Tosh, both.

Answer 7

They both seem correct to me.

Answer 8

Whoa, whoa, whoa...Julian isn't a native Spanish speaker? Since when?!

Yeah, since when!! - territurtle, Dec 20, 2011

Answer 9

Neither sounds "formal" to me. I would use them both, depending upon context -- much as Samdie pointed out above:

I would have loved to go to the cinema with you

I was unable to go with you to that particular showing of the movie.

I would love to have gone to the cinema with you

To my regret, and despite opportunities, I have been unable to fulfill my desire to go to the cinema with you.

Answer 10

The first one seems more practical and natural to me. It's what I would say. The second is almost more formal sounding. Anyway, they're both correct as far as I know!

To add to that, I think I'm thinking the second is more formal because there is no way to make any contractions, whereas with the first you could say "would've". :P - leonada, Dec 18, 2011

I would love to've gone... ;) - Tosh, Dec 18, 2011

More formal but I believe equal in correctness. - Yeser007, Dec 18, 2011

Formality is an interesting take on this; I never thought of one being more or less formal than the other - 005faa61, Dec 18, 2011

Answer 11

I would have loved to go to the cinema with you

or

I would love to have gone to the cinema with you

The first one doesn't sound correct to me. Of course, a person would causally ignore the error in a conversation.