should
Should is used to give advice and make recommendations and to talk about obligation, duty and what is expected to happen. Reference is to the present and the future. Should is similar to must but is not as strong as must:
Should is used to give advice and make recommendations and to talk about obligation, duty and what is expected to happen. Reference is to the present and the future. Should is similar to must but is not as strong as must:
- You should always wear a helmet when
you go out cycling on busy roads.
- Once the pack is opened, the cooked meat inside should
be consumed within three days.
- Should I tell her that her son is playing truant and
skipping school? ~ I think you should. She should know
about it.
should
and should have Should combines with the perfect infinitive to form should have + past participle when we want to talk about past events that did not happen, but should have happened. We are talking about an expectation and referring back to past time. Compare the following: Before Tom leaves for work, his wife advises him:
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would If we want to talk about an unreal or unlikely situation that might arise now or in the future, we use a past tense in the if-clause and would + infinitive in the main clause. Compare the following and note that would is often abbreviated to 'd:
If we want to refer to the past and make a statement about things that did not happen, we need to use had + past participle in the if clause and would have constructions in the main clause. Note in these sentences that we can use 'd as the abbreviation for both had in the if-clause and would in the main clause:
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could Could can be used to ask for permission, to make a request and express ability in the past. Compare the following:
As with would have, and should have, could have is used to talk about the past and refers to things that people could have done in the past, but didn't attempt to do or succeed in doing:
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should have / could have / wouldn't have Note the way in which all three of these modals are combined in these exchanges which refer to a meeting that has just taken place:
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