06 November 2006

Regrets and criticisms

moo_cow

Should have + past participle is often used to express regrets or criticisms about past actions. It may be useful for you to think of regret as self-criticism.

I shouldn’t have eaten so many hamburgers yesterday. (regret)
You should have remembered your teacher’s birthday. (criticism)

Ought (not) to have + past participle can be used instead of should have + past participle:

I ought not to have eaten so many hamburgers yesterday. (regret)
You ought to have remembered your teacher’s birthday. (criticism)

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home