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Oh…
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Hello!
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Ah…
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I should have prepared for this lesson, I
guess.
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Now I don’t know what to say.
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Whoops!
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Martin!
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You could have at least warned me.
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Now what are we going to do?
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I would have done it, but I was just so busy…
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I could have done it if you’d told me.
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Don’t you have some notes, or something
we can use?
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I had some notes, but I can’t find them.
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Well, think about it: where could they be?
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Not sure…
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I could have left them on the bus.
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I should never have agreed to do this video…
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Hi, I’m Martin.
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Welcome to Oxford Online English!
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In this lesson, you can learn how to use would
have, should have and could have.
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These verbs—would, should, could, etc.—are
modal verbs, so they don’t have past forms
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like normal verbs do.
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Instead, you can talk about the past by adding
have plus a past participle after the verb.
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In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use
those modal verbs to talk about the past in
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English, what they mean, and how they’re
different.
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Sometimes, you have moments when your life
could go in very different ways.
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For example, maybe you take an important exam,
and your result decides where you can go to
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university.
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Maybe you’re thinking about moving to another
country.
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Do you stay where you are, or do you leave?
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Perhaps you’re in a relationship and things
aren’t going so well.
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Do you stay and try to make it work, or do
you move on?
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Life is full of these important moments and
decisions.
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Try to think of something like this from your
past.
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Now, ask yourself: you made the choices you
made.
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You passed the exam, or you failed it; you
moved to another country, or you didn’t.
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That’s reality, but what if things had gone
the other way?
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This is the imaginary past.
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You’re imagining a different version of
the past.
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You’re asking yourself questions like:
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What if I had worked a bit harder, and passed
that exam?
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What if I had taken that job, and moved to
Italy?
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What if I had told her how I feel?
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This is where you use would have.
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Use would have to talk about the imaginary
past.
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For example:
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If I had got better exam results, I would
have got into Harvard.
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I wouldn’t have met my wife if I had moved
to Italy seven years ago.
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If I hadn’t forgotten my pen that day, I
wouldn’t have asked to borrow yours, and
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we wouldn’t have become friends!
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Think about your important moment from the
past, when your life could have gone in two
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very different directions: what would have
happened if things had gone the other way?
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So, you can use would have to talk about the
imaginary past.
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What about our other verbs?
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Where do you suppose they are?
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I don’t know.
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They’re usually so reliable.
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I guess they could have mixed up the date?
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Shall we try calling them again?
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We can’t wait forever.
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When will it be ready?
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I think next Thursday.
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You said you’d have it finished by the end
of this week!
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Now what am I going to do?
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Sorry.
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You could have told me sooner that you weren’t
going to finish on time.
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Doctor, is it serious?
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No, it’s just a scratch, but be more careful
next time.
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You could have really hurt yourself!
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You can also use could have to talk about the imaginary past:
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If I’d had more time, I could have finished everything.
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He could have won it if he hadn’t slipped at the start.
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When you use could have to talk about the imaginary past, you’re talking about possibilities.
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You’re talking about opportunities and chances which you didn’t have in reality,
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but in your imaginary version of the past, you would have had these chances.
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However, could have can also have different meanings. Let’s look:
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Here, you saw three more ways to use could
have.
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Remember that you can go back and review the
dialogues if you need to.
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Can you explain how could have is used in
each of these dialogues?
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Could have can mean that you aren’t sure
about something in the past.
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You’re talking about a possibility:
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They could have mixed up the date.
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I’ve lost my keys.
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I could have left them at work.
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Where are they?
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I guess they could have missed the train.
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In these examples, you aren’t sure about
something that happened in the past.
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You use could have to make a guess about what
happened.
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You can also use could have to criticise someone:
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You could have told me sooner.
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You could have tidied up a bit.
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You could have worn something a bit nicer.
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In these examples, you want to criticise the
other person for something they didn’t do.
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Finally, you can use could have to mean that
somebody was lucky to avoid a bad situation
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in the past:
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It’s just a scratch, but you could have
really hurt yourself.
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We were really late, and we could have missed
our plane, but luckily we just made it.
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Let’s review quickly.
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Could have has four different meanings.
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Can you remember them?
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You can use could have to talk about the imaginary
past,
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to guess about something in the past which
you aren’t sure about,
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to criticise someone for something they didn’t
do,
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and to say that someone was lucky to avoid
a bad situation.
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Next, what about should have?
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You just saw that could have can be used to
criticise someone.
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Should have is similar, but you can use it
in a wider variety of ways.
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Like could have, you can use it to criticise
something that someone didn’t do in the
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past:
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You should have called me like you promised.
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He should have checked the recipe before he
started cooking.
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They should have practiced penalties
before the match.
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You can also use it to criticise something
that someone did:
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You shouldn’t have drunk so much at the
wedding!
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She shouldn’t have left everything to the
last minute.
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You can even use it to criticise yourself,
if you regret something which you did in the
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past:
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I should have realised what was going on.
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I shouldn’t have said that.
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You can also use should have to apologise
to someone.
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If you say I shouldn’t have said that, you’re
admitting that you made the wrong choice,
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and that you regret it.
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This is the most common use of should have:
criticising others or yourself, and talking
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about things you regret in the past.
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However, it has one more meaning.
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Look at three examples.
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Can you work out what should have means here?
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Here, you use should have to talk about something
which you expected to happen, but it didn’t
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happen.
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They should have been here by now means that
you expected them to have arrived before now,
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but you’re still waiting.
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It should have been ready an hour ago means
that you expected everything to be ready earlier.
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Maybe you’re cooking something, and it’s
taking much longer than you thought it would.
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The plane should have landed at seven thirty
means that you expected the plane to land
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then, but it didn’t.
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Probably, you mean that the plane is late,
and you’re still waiting for it.
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Now, you should have learned two different
ways to use should have.
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Let’s practice using would have, could have
and should have together.
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You should have told me your friends were
coming!
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I would have made some extra food.
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Sorry!
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I would have called you, but I had no phone
credit.
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I should have topped up before we went out.
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What are we going to eat?
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We don’t have much in the fridge.
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I should have stopped and got a takeaway on
the way.
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Not to worry: we’ll order something.
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Where’s the food?
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I’m so hungry!
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They should have come by now, right?
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They’re probably just busy.
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They could have forgotten.
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They would have called if there was a problem,
don’t you think?
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Relax!
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You should have had a snack when you got in.
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It’ll be here soon.
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That was delicious!
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I’ve never had such a good meal.
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You could have left some for me.
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What am I supposed to eat?
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Oh…
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I’m sorry!
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I would have left some if I’d known you
wanted some.
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I should have asked.
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Yeah, you should have.
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Oh well, there’s half a cucumber in the
fridge, I think.
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Look at three sentences from the dialogues.
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Can you explain what they mean?
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The first sentence is talking about the imaginary
past.
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It means that if I had known you were bringing
guests, I would have made some more food.
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But, in reality, I didn’t know, so I didn’t
make enough food.
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The second sentence is talking about something
you aren’t sure about in the past.
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Do you remember the situation?
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We were waiting for our takeaway to arrive.
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It was late, and we didn’t know what
happened.
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You use could have here to make a guess about
something in the past when you don’t know
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what happened.
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The third sentence is a criticism, or an expression
of regret.
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If you say this, you mean that you made a
mistake in the past.
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Think back to the dialogues.
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Did we use should have or could have in any
other ways?
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Look at two more sentences:
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They should have come by now.
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You could have left some for me.
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What do should have and could have mean here?
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Here, should have means that something didn’t
happen the way you expected.
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You expected the food to be here by now, but
it isn’t.
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00:13:07,249 --> 00:13:12,610
Could have is used to criticise something
which someone else didn’t do.
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00:13:12,610 --> 00:13:20,089
Now, hopefully you understand how to use would
have, could have and should have.
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Get more practice with the full version of
this lesson, which includes a quiz to help
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your understanding of this topic.
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There’s a link underneath the video.
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You can also find many more free English lessons
on our website: Oxford Online English.com.
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Finally, a question: did you learn anything
new about using would have, could have or
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should have?
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00:13:52,029 --> 00:13:54,970
What was new for you in this lesson?
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Please let us know in the comments.
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Thanks for watching!
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See you next time!16334
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