Present/Future Expectation

When you expect something to happen (although you are not completely, 100% certain), you can use should/shouldn'tfor the present or future:

· Present:

I took my car to the mechanic yesterday and he said the problem would be fixed in a day - so my car shouldbe ready by now.

· Future:

Can you please type up these notes?

It shouldonly take about half an hour.

· Present:

The weather is clear, so our flight shouldn'tbe delayed.

· Future:

I've written out all the instructions for this task step by step, so you shouldn'trun into any problems when you try to do it.

Put it into practice!

What is one thing you expect to do or one thing you expect to happen within the next week? Create your own sentence using should:

Ex) Within the next week, I should finish the book I'm reading.

Past Expectation

For expectations about what was supposed to happen in the past, you can use should haveand shouldn't haveplus the past participle:

· I sent the package three weeks ago with express mail. They should havereceived it already.

= I expect that they have already received it

· This car is brand new. It shouldn't havebroken down.

= I expected it NOT to break down

Because should/shouldn'tare also used for giving advice and recommendations, we can also use should haveand shouldn't havefor evaluating things in the past and declaring them to have been right or wrong, good or bad:

· Lindsay saw a woman who needed help, but did nothing. "Lindsay, you should havehelped her."

· I said something mean to my best friend during an argument. "I shouldn't havesaid that. It really hurt her feelings."

Put it into practice!

Think of one thing you regret doing, and one thing you regret NOT doing. Make sentences about them using should/shouldn't have + the past participle:

I should have...

· I shouldn't have...

Possibility

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 863