Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[kjol]

"There was no mosquito to have made him ill."

Does this sentence mean that he became ill, but the mosquitos were not the cause?

[asterix]

It doesn't necessarily mean that he became ill at all. It just means there were no mosquitoes. There is the allusion to the fact that some mosquitoes can make you ill.

[Bob S.]

I concur. More screwy English. The sentence can mean:

1. He became ill with malaria-like symptoms, but it cannot be malaria because there were no mosquitoes to give it to him.

2. You expected him to catch malaria, but he didn't because there were no mosquitoes.

Frustrating, eh?

[kjol]

Thank you, Bob and asterix!

Could you tell me what the difference is between "to have made him ill" and "to make him ill"?

[asterix]

It's a matter of tense.
There was no .... to have made ..etc., is in the past.

To make him ill is present tense.