Should Have and Shouldn't Have — Exercises
Practice should have, shouldn't have and ought to have for criticism and regret: we should have booked, you shouldn't have shouted.
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I failed the exam. I ___ studied harder — but I didn't.
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should have
Criticising a past action that didn't happen → 'should have' + past participle. 'Must have studied' would be a guess that I did study.
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You ___ shouted at her like that — she was only trying to help.
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shouldn't have
Criticism of something that happened → 'shouldn't have' + past participle: you shouted, and it was wrong. 'Mustn't have' is not used for criticism.
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We got completely lost. We ___ to have taken a map.
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ought
'Ought to have' + past participle means the same as 'should have' — a criticism of the past. Only 'ought' is followed by 'to'.
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It's your own fault you're tired. You ___ stayed up so late.
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shouldn't have
Criticising something that happened → 'shouldn't have stayed up'. 'Can't have' would be a guess that you didn't stay up — but we know you did.
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The restaurant was full when we got there. We ___ booked a table.
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should have
We didn't book, and that was a mistake → 'should have booked'. 'Must have booked' would be a guess that we did.
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Why didn't you tell me you were ill? You ___ called me — I'd have come round.
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should have
You didn't call, and that was the wrong thing → 'should have called'. 'Must have called' would be a guess that you did.
Should Have and Ought to Have: Criticism and Regret
Should have + past participle says that something was the right thing to do but did not happen: The restaurant was full — we should have booked a table. Shouldn't have + past participle says that something happened but was wrong: You shouldn't have shouted at her — she was only trying to help. Used about yourself, the structure expresses regret (I should have studied harder); used about other people, it is criticism (You should have called me). Ought to have has the same meaning and is slightly more formal: We ought to have taken a map. The structure looks exactly like a past deduction, so meaning decides: He must have called means the speaker is sure he did, while He should have called means he didn't, and that was a mistake. A frequent form error is dropping have: You should told me instead of You should have told me.
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