Should have and Could have

Should have

100

'I lied to my parents and they grounded me'

You should have told the truth/

You shouldn't have lied

200

Sharon woke up early and still arrived late to work because she left her house late.

She should have left her house earlier/

She shouldn't have left late her house

300

'I broke my hand playing on the handrail'

You shouldn't have played on the handrail

400

Tom lost the money his mom gave him for lunch.

He should have been more careful

500

'I lost all my money in the match because I thought my team was going to win'

You shouldn't have bet all your money/

You shouldn't have been too confident

Could have

100

In a situation where a boy arrives really late to his house and he didn't call their parents, what things do parents normally tell to their children?

Think about one example

You could have called us

You could have arrived earlier

You could have had an accident

200

You got angry with your sister and instead of talking over the situation, you yelled at her. What could you have done differently?

I could have spoken calmly with her

I could have waited to talk to her

I could have let her explained

300

Tom took money from his dad becuase he needed it for something important. What could he have done instead?

He could have asked for it

He could have saved money for emergencies

He could have told him about the problem

400

A friend of mine needed help and I didn't do anything for him/her. What could I have done?

You could have offered help

You could have asked if he/she needed something

You could have been more interested on his/her things

500

You bought a phone you wanted but a newer version was released two weeks after that. What could you have done?

You could have waited to buy your phone

You could have searched for information about it

you could have asked at the retail store

Grammar Usage

100

Which modal do we use to talk about a possiblity?

Could

200

What modal do we use to talk about advice?

Should

300

How do we call Should Have and Could Have in grammar terms?

Modals in the Past or Past Modals

400

What is the contraction for both Should Have and Could Have? And what is their pronunciation?

Should've and Could've

(/Shudaf/ and /Cudaf/)

500

In what cases do we use Should Have and Could Have?

We use Should Have to criticise the past and we use Could Have to talk about different possibilities for a concluded action i the past.