Modals · CEFR B2 · Confident
should have — the regret — English modal verbs
Looking back at something that did not happen and saying it was the right thing to do. Its negative criticises what did happen.
The shape
should have / ought to have + third form
Say what you wish you had done.
In Hindi
पीछे मुड़कर यह कहना कि जो नहीं किया, वही ठीक था। इसका नकार जो किया उस पर टिप्पणी करता है।
CoCap explains every structure in both languages, because a rule you understand in Hindi is a rule you can use in English.
The mistake to fix first
The sentence Indian-English speakers actually produce, and the reason it is wrong.
| Commonly said | Correct English |
|---|---|
I should have went earlier. | I should have gone earlier. After "have" the verb takes its third form — gone, not went. |
Learn these first
These come first. The rest of this makes more sense once they are automatic.
- should / ought toA2Give advice without sounding like an order
- Present PerfectB1Talk about experience and about what has changed
Easy to confuse with
Close enough to be mixed up with this one. Knowing the difference is most of knowing either.
- could have / would haveB2Talk about what was possible but never happened
- must have / can't haveB2Work out what happened from the evidence
- Third conditionalB2Talk about how the past could have gone differently
Questions people ask
- What is the should have — the regret used for?
- Looking back at something that did not happen and saying it was the right thing to do. Its negative criticises what did happen. In practice: say what you wish you had done.
- How do you form the should have — the regret?
- should have / ought to have + third form.
- What is the most common mistake with the should have — the regret?
- Saying “I should have went earlier.” instead of “I should have gone earlier.”. After "have" the verb takes its third form — gone, not went.
Where should have — the regret fits
Where this structure sits in the ladder, and what surrounds it.
should have — the regret is a CEFR B2 structure — the confident band — and it belongs to modals. CoCap’s syllabus files every structure this way so you can learn in order instead of jumping between whatever a search happened to return.
Reading it is not the same as saying it.
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