modals of lost opportunity should have could have would have

MODALS OF LOST OPPORTUNITY
SHOULD – COULD – WOULD + PERFECT INFINITIVE
When talking about the past we use all modals with the PERFECT INFINITIVE or PERFECT
CONTINUOUS INFINITIVE
REMEMBER:
 when referring to the present/future time we use MODAL + base form of the main verb
You should go (now or in the near future) to the doctor’s. (I advise you to do this)
 But when referring to the past time we use:
You should have gone to the doctor’s, yesterday. (it was the best thing to do in the
circumstances but you didn’t go)
Using should, would, could in the past is often used to create hypothetical scenarios.
Because modals used in the past are followed by have + past participle (PERFECT INFINITIVE) or the
‘have been + ing’ form (PERFECT CONTINUOUS INFINITIVE)
they are often taught as SHOULD HAVE, WOULD HAVE, COULD HAVE + past participle.

SHOULD HAVE - It is now thought that a different action/decision was necessary at the time and perhaps
the decision/action taken in the past is now regretted.
 I should have listened to my mother when she told me not to marry John.
(but I
did marry him and now I regret it. – I lost the opportunity of making a different decision)
 The Emergency Exits should have opened automatically but for some reason they didn’t and fifteen
people were killed.
 The accident was my fault. I shouldn’t have been driving so fast. (I regret it now)
 Mary shouldn’t have read the text messages John sent me.
(But
she did. She made the wrong decision. It wasn’t a good idea.)

COULD HAVE - a decision/action was possible but the opportunity to make/do it wasn’t taken
 Why did you stay in a hotel? You could have stayed at Mary’s. I know she asked you to.
didn’t take the opportunity that you were given)
 You could have asked me before you bought those tickets. I can’t come with you on Friday.

was a bad idea to buy them without taking the opportunity of asking me previously)
 All the passengers could have been saved if the emergency services had arrived quicker.
opportunity to save lives was lost because of the late arrival of emergency services)

(you
(It
(the

WOULD HAVE - If there had been the possibility/opportunity, this action/decision may have been different.
An imaginary/hypothetical scenario is being expressed.
 I would have loved to meet your mother but, unfortunately, I wasn’t in town when she visited Stratford.
(If circumstances had been different I would have enjoyed meeting her. I lost the opportunity of
meeting her because I wasn’t in town.)
 I wouldn’t have opened the window if I had known she had a high temperature.
(but I
didn’t know, otherwise I would not have done what I did)
 I would have phoned you to let you know I would be late but there wasn’t any credit left on my SIM
card.
(the truth
is I didn’t phone you. I wanted to, but I couldn’t.)
 I would have been driving up London Road exactly at the time of the explosion if I hadn’t stopped to
buy some petrol. I would have (certainly)/could have (possibly) been killed.
(I am
imagining a hypothetical scenario)

Exercises on next page


Exercises - intermediate/upper-intermediate level
Choose either ‘would have, could have, should have + past participle’ to complete

these sentences using, when necessary, the ‘ing’ form, the passive voice or the
negative form.
1) I ______________________ (buy) the red dress if I had had enough money (it

was my intention)

2) The town centre ___________________ _______ (protect) from flooding by

the new flood barriers but they were too low.

(possessive voice)

3) I ___________________________________ (stay) with John and Mary, but

I preferred not to because they have got a cat and I am allergic to cats.

4) You _________________________ (tell) me that you needed £400. I

________________ (certainly/lend) you the money.
5) I _________________________ (ask) John to come to Spain with us if I had

known that he had just lost his job.

6) I ______________________________ (not/drive) at 120 m.p.h. I was fined

£300 by the police when they stopped me on the motorway.
7a) John _________________ (steal) the money from my purse. He was at
work at the time.
7b) I _______________________ (take) my purse with me when I left the
house. If I had, it _____________________ (steal) (possessive voice)

8)

I __________________ (order) the book for you when I ordered mine.

9)

She ___________________ (tell) him that she was married.

10)

The accident _________________ (avoid). There are three ‘danger’
warnings. (possessive voice)

11)

If he had driven carefully, he _______________ (have) the accident.

1.would have bought 2. should have been 3. could have stayed 4. should have told/would certainly have lent
5. wouldn’t have asked 6. shouldn’t have been driving 7a) couldn’t have stolen. 7b) should have
taken/wouldn’t have been stolen 8 could have ordered 9. should have told (the right thing to do) or /could have
told (she had the opportunity) 10. should have been (certainty)/could have been(possibility) 11. wouldn’t have
had