 Re: Difference between 'was to' and 'was to have '
No difference in meaning. "was to" already tells you that a past event is being described, so the perfect infinitive "have picked" is redundant. It adds nothing to the meaning that wasn't already indicated. So the simple infinitive is also possible and the meaning remains clear.
Compare this with eg:
He may go on Saturday
He may have gone on Saturday
Here the only indication of past time carried by the verb is in the perfect infinitive, so it is obligatory - otherwise "on Saturday" is interpreted as "next saturday" rather than "last Saturday" |