How to Express Regret in English should have could have would have

but welcome back to our weekly live

stream my name is Alicia and in this

week’s lesson we are going to talk about

a very common question how to use should

have could have and would have in

everyday conversation I’m also going to

talk about making negative statements so

today’s lesson will be focused on making

statements I’m not going to really talk

so much about making questions today

we’re going to talk about the

differences between these three patterns

so I’m going to try to use a lot of

examples on the board today but I hope

that you send lots of examples in the

chat as well so we will wait a couple

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while we wait please don’t forget to

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learners can find it and what else get

some stuff ready to write about so you

can take notes about today’s lesson

we’ll start in about two minutes in the

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there are lots of people preach we have

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let’s get started I’m going to share the

video and then I’m going to begin

today’s lesson there we are okay so as I

said today’s focus will be on using

should have could have and would have so

a big theme with this grammar is regret

regret so what is regret regret is sad

feelings about something that happened

or did not happen in the past so we’re

going to focus a lot on like sad things

in the past okay so let’s begin with

should and shouldn’t have first how do

we make a statement with should and

shouldn’t have we use our subject so

that’s I you we

she and so on and then we add should

have for a positive statement or

shouldn’t have for a negative statement

this is the change we make for positive

and for negative then we use a past

participle verb past participle verb so

like eaten or gone for example so what

is the difference here what does this

even mean when we make a positive

sentence so subject should have past

participle verb we’re talking about

something that did not happen in the

past so in this diagram the blue color

means a positive expression so this is

something that did not happen in the

past I marked it with an X and we feel

sad about it like we’re not happy about

it this thing did not happen and I feel

sad I feel regret when we make a

negative sentence subject shouldn’t have

plus past participle verb it means that

thing it happened it did happen

something happened and we feel sad about

it so positive did not happen

negative did happen this is maybe seems

a little bit backwards so let’s practice

this with a few example sentence so many

of you are students I know so a common

example is I should have

studied or I should have studied more so

let’s break this one down my subject is

I I follow my subject which should have

right here I should have studied is the

past participle form of study and in

this case I use more so this means I

should have studied more than I did so I

studied a little bit but my regret is I

didn’t study enough I didn’t study

enough so I should have studied more

this sentence means because it’s

positive I’m using positive should have

here this idea so this did not happen so

I studied a little bit but I should have

studied more I should have studied more

so this is a very common one for

students for sure for anyone studying

anything really for language whatever so

I should have studied more is a very

common example okay let’s take a look at

a negative now a negative let’s use I

shouldn’t I shouldn’t have eaten that

Andy

I often have this regret this is true

there’s a weird peppermint thing in the

office anyway I shouldn’t have eaten

that candy this is a common regret for

some people for me for sure

so let’s again let’s break this down so

we begin with I is my subject again me I

negative shouldn’t have should not have

the reduced form here I shouldn’t have

eaten eaten is the past participle form

of the verb eat and what that candy so

this means here because it’s a negative

this is a negative that means this

happened I know that this pattern means

this thing happened there’s a check here

it’s kind of hard to see and a sad face

so I shouldn’t have eaten that candy

that means I ate the candy and maybe I

feel sick or I ate the candy and now I

have too much energy maybe whatever so I

feel some regret about this thing in the

past I shouldn’t have eaten that candy

so this is a positive and a negative

example also a pronunciation point about

this and we’ll talk about it for the

others too when we pronounce this should

have and this shouldn’t have we make it

very quick and very short so let’s

listen this should have I should have

studied more sounds like I should have

studied more at native speed I should

have studied more so this should have

sounds like should shoulda it’s like we

put an A at the end of [ __ ] I should

have studied more I should have studied

more this is how a native speaker

pronounces should have so you’d usually

do not here have here should have

studied more in the negative we do the

same thing

shouldn’t have shouldn’t have is

pronounced as should not should not so

this should not this it sound and

shouldn’t becomes and it’s hard to hear

this sound close to the mic shouldn’t

it’s true it’s true

shouldn’t should that well it’s hard to

hear the end zone so shouldn’t have

becomes Shabnam should have becomes [ __ ]

up

some examples are coming in hello

someone says I should not have trusted

him

perfect perfect example Diego says he

shouldn’t have eaten so much candy maybe

sounds good he shouldn’t have eaten so

much candy good I saw one more I think I

do too but it’s gone now that’s okay

it’s not a couple yeah there’s a bunch

there sorry YouTube Aparna said we

should have completed our work perfect

someone says delete says I should have

studied more with Alisha whoo yeah

thanks for studying now perfect sentence

other examples

uh ah Xiu says I should have washed

washed my face before watching this

stream maybe so

past participle verb past participle of

wash is washed I should have washed my

face golly says you should have brought

my wallet perfect perfect very nice very

nice some other examples masa hagun masa

Amasya says I shouldn’t have done it

good I shouldn’t have done it is a great

one to use great pattern thanks for that

mafia I shouldn’t have done it or I

shouldn’t have done that this is a great

point for everybody to remember I

shouldn’t have done that

is super useful because that can mean

anything in the past when you make a

mistake and you feel bad about it

especially for like kids or maybe if you

have a problem in like your friendship

or something you can like apologize and

say I shouldn’t have done that

shouldn’t have done that I’m sorry I

shouldn’t have done that it’s a great

pattern great pattern uh some other ones

Johan says I shouldn’t have drank a lot

of beer

oh that’s relatable for sure okay

someone sorry I can’t read your name on

YouTube who the characters I should not

have said that to you sorry

perfect nice examples everybody great

great should have and should not have

sounds really good okay sounds good

let’s take a break then and we’ll go to

could could have and could not have next

very nice examples everybody awesome so

get ready for it could have next in the

meantime let’s shall I show physical

items or shall we see a picture we shall

see a picture which I’ll do both oh my

gosh we have the technology okay so I

showed you the free stuff that’s always

last week and gave some tips if you are

having trouble downloading all of our

free stuff these things are the same as

these here like travel ones or food ones

whatever if you want to download these

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after you do that you can download all

this stuff all this stuff from the link

so that’s the three steps to get all of

this free stuff so today we’re talking

about regrets a lot but you can use this

with any verb so with travel related

verbs like some of you have said I

should have gone there someone that I

should have gone to that Island or we’re

talking about food I shouldn’t have

eaten that for example or if you are

talking about shopping for clothes I

shouldn’t have bought those expensive

shoes for example so you can practice

this grammar with any verb any verb and

we all have things we wish we had

had not done for sure so check out all

of that free stuff from the link below

the video on youtube or above the video

on Facebook okay let’s continue thanks

everybody for your example sentences in

part 1 let’s go on now to part 2 if

you’re just joining we’re talking about

should have could have and would have

the video is being recorded so please

check the first part of today’s lesson

also if you have not already make sure

to like and share the video so other

people can find it

alrighty let’s continue to part 2 part 2

is about using could and couldn’t have

could and could it have so exactly as we

did with should and shouldn’t have when

we make the statement when we make our

statement we use subject + could have +

past participle verbs so this is exactly

the same we’ve just replaced should with

could in the negative it’s also the same

subject couldn’t tap plus past

participle verb so you’ll notice this

pattern this is the same for all three

points today but this change is very

important so what does could have or

couldn’t have mean let’s talk about

positives and negatives again first in a

positive statement it means that thing

in the past something in the past did

not happen that thing did not happen but

it was possible it was possible so on my

diagram here this is my timeline here’s

now here’s the past so this is my action

I marked with an X so this did not

happen but it was possible it did not

happen but it was possible let’s compare

this to the negative n so that thing was

impossible in the

that thing was not possible in the past

so this is the key difference so this is

very different from should have and

shouldn’t have yeah so that’s very like

about regrets this is talking more about

possibility and we often use it for

regret not always but we often use it

for regret so again positive did not

happen but it was possible and negative

was not possible in the past so let’s

practice with some example sentences

okay first one let’s practice with a

positive I could have helped you with

your am I still in Frank homework okay

up by writing okay with your homework

alright that’s a long sentence sorry I

could have helped you with your homework

okay so ouch so I showed you this part

right here so up to this part is the

same as this so in this case these are

my sentence details I could have helped

you with your homework so here my

subject is I used could have here to

make a positive and my past participle

verb is helped at native speed this

sounds like I could have helped you with

my with your homework sorry I could have

helped you with your homework so what

does this sentence mean this sentence

means I did not help you with your

homework I did not help you in the past

but it was possible it was possible I

had time I was near you I was at school

I could have helped you but I didn’t

like maybe I didn’t know so I could have

helped you with your homework so this is

a positive example positive one I could

have but I didn’t so positive sentence

yes did not happen this action did not

happen

okay so let’s move on to a negative

example of them a negative example let’s

change the subject then let’s change it

she couldn’t have eaten that pizza by

herself she couldn’t have eaten that

pizza by herself so let’s imagine for

this sentence maybe you’re sitting in a

restaurant and you see a young woman

like a very young woman maybe she’s like

10 years old with a huge pizza and then

later the pizza is gone and you think

what she’s so small like there’s no way

she couldn’t have eaten that pizza by

herself so my subject is she I’m using

the negative couldn’t have my past

participle verb is eaten and here are my

sentence details she couldn’t have eaten

that pizza by herself by herself means

alone just her her only she couldn’t

have eaten that pizza by herself so this

sentence means this situation so eating

the pizza by hers was impossible so

she’s like a tiny tiny girl with a giant

pizza like it’s bigger than her so this

situation was impossible in the past we

use couldn’t have plus past participle

verb to express that point so this is

the difference between positive and

negative with could have and couldn’t

have

so again a pronunciation point just as I

talked about with should have and

shouldn’t have could have sounds like

coulda gooda I could have helped you I

could have helped you with your homework

I could have come to your party I could

wash the dishes but I didn’t so

coulda similarly couldn’t have

sounds like couldn’t uh couldn’t uh she

couldn’t eat in that pizza by herself

that’s what a native speaker would say I

couldn’t have come that couldn’t have

been him couldn’t uh couldn’t have some

examples from you guys great someone

says I couldn’t have bought the cars mmm

agency I’m not quite sure what that one

means

sorry about that I couldn’t have

prepared breakfast for us this morning

okay maybe I I couldn’t I couldn’t

prepare breakfast for us this morning as

a little bit different I could have had

two children I could have had two

children so don’t forget when this verb

when this verb is have the past

participle form is had so yes it’s

correct to say it could have had I could

have had two children okay my rista

Madrid East uh sorry I could have gone

there good Florence says she couldn’t

have gone to school by herself

perfect good

Yadira says I could have bought food for

dinner good good so that means it didn’t

happen or wait sorry what was your

sentence I could have bought I could

have bought food for dinner so it sounds

like I could have I didn’t but I could

if it was possible I could have bought

food for dinner good they could have

studied English ten years ago yes

exactly

so again that means that did not happen

but it was possible

amer on Facebook says she couldn’t have

done the homework by herself good

example nice someone said a cam boy on

Facebook says I could have had three

children so no s children is plural good

it’s going very fast I couldn’t yeah I

couldn’t watch I couldn’t watch the live

last one say okay a little bit different

a little bit different grammar point

we’re focusing on couldn’t have couldn’t

tap okay he couldn’t have oh they

couldn’t have come yet good good good

they couldn’t have come yet so it’s not

possible for them to come yet good I

couldn’t have studied English without

you whew thanks good good some good

examples coming in but this one’s a

little tricky I couldn’t don’t forget

this half don’t forget this half so I

think some people looking at the chat I

think some people the issue I see if

some people are using simple past to

talk about like ability in the past like

I couldn’t come to work yesterday that’s

like an impossible situation yesterday

sure but like I couldn’t have like done

something we’re talking about other

kinds of like impossibility in the past

there so not like simple past tense

possibility

a little different okay let’s continue

time is running out so let’s continue on

to a break and then we’ll go to the

third point some other good examples are

coming in no I couldn’t have passed the

University exam when I was fifteen very

nice example okay let’s take one more

quick break and then we’ll go to our

last point for today again if you missed

it before free stuff okay free stuff we

won’t show you the screenshots this time

but I showed you a couple of these PDFs

before so as I’ve said you can use all

of these to practice today’s grammar

point so we’re talking about should have

could have and would have we practice

these with a verb so for example if you

are visiting a hotel I shouldn’t have

booked that hotel or I could have booked

that hotel but I didn’t or if you are

talking with your family you could use

this as well so like for example I

should have called my mother yesterday

or I could have visited my parents last

week but I didn’t so we can use all of

these grammar points with all of these

different topics so if you would like to

download these vocabulary sheets please

check the link below the video on

youtube or above the video on Facebook

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remember I cannot see your comments in

real time okay

let’s continue to the last point for

today’s lesson tricky point would have

and wouldn’t have would have and

wouldn’t have let’s get going

so last point for today also if you have

not make sure to like and share the

video okay would have and wouldn’t have

as I’ve talked about already this

follows the same pattern as could and

couldn’t have and should and shouldn’t

have so we begin with our subject we use

would have and we use the past

participle form of a verb or to make the

negative form we use subject plus wooden

have plus the past participle form

another point about this in particular

is that we use this I think many of you

know about the third conditional the

third conditional is when we use like

some kind of if statement yeah so like

if I had known or like if he had come

there’s some kind of if situation there

we very commonly use this together with

if conditionals so we’re making a third

it’s called the third type the third

conditional type statements so let’s

compare then again positives and

negatives with this would have and

wouldn’t have first make a positive

statement we’re saying if the past

situation had been different this would

have been my plan so I my plan would be

or my plan will be so we imagine I’m in

the past in a different situation so

this is not a true situation and in this

different situation my plan is but

what’s difficult here is this did not

happen so it may be hard to see here but

this I’ve marked with an X so this thing

not happen but I want to express my plan

if the past were different so again this

did not happen this thing did not happen

I’ll show an example in a moment

conversely on the other hand in the

negative form this thing did happen it

did happen but in a different situation

it might not have happened so in a

different situation in the past again I

imagine myself in the past in a

different situation this thing it did

happen but maybe I have a different plan

so this is maybe kind of tricky we’re

talking about totally unreal past

situations here

so I think it’s some languages this type

of grammar doesn’t exist so it’s a bit

tricky so let’s practice with some

examples all righty

let me find my example oh I pad is

frozen there we go my notes okay so

let’s look at a positive example first I

would have helped you with your homework

if I had had time I would have helped

you with your homework if I had had time

so let’s focus on this part right here I

would have helped you with your homework

let’s begin right here so I would have

helped that’s this part subject I would

have plus past participle verb helped I

would have helped so this means in the

past I did not help you with your

homework I did not help you with your

homework but if this situation had been

true it was not true if this situation

had been true I would have meaning my

plan was to help you so this did not

happen this did not happen but if the

past were different this would be my

plan so this is how we talk about like

kind of regrets a little bit a little

bit of regret so in this case if I had

had time if I had had time this means I

did not have time I did not have time

but if I had had time I would have

helped you with your homework this is

what we this is maybe like a common

expression if I had had time I would

have something if I had had time I would

have helped you with your homework

another point about this one is we can

switch the order so I’ve introduced

this I would have first at the beginning

of the sentence you can change it so the

if statement can come first that’s okay

as well okay let’s go I’m out of time so

let’s quickly go to a negative example

let’s see let’s use a short one okay

let’s use this one I wouldn’t have been

so upset if you and just called me okay

negative example I wouldn’t have been so

upset if you had just called me so the

tone of voice I would use and this one

would be very angry probably I wouldn’t

have been so upset if you had just

called me so someone’s probably very

angry or sad when they say this this

means so I wouldn’t have been then as

the past participle verb here so I

wouldn’t have been means I was upset I

was upset in the past but if you this is

my 8th conditional if you had called me

in the past I would not have been upset

so I was upset but if you had called me

I would not have been upset so again

totally not a real situation not a true

situation so for negatives again it did

happen but in a different situation it

might not have happened positive

situations it did not happen in a

different situation it might not so this

is how we use would and wouldn’t have

quick

of course okay so some examples from you

real quick and then we have to finish up

for today if I won the lottery I would

buy about slightly different conditional

let’s practice using would have would

have I would have bought a new car if I

had won the lottery Paul I would have

bought a new car if I had won the

lottery other ones I would have visited

Alisha on my last travel to Dubai at

that time huh nice one garrison I would

have studied music if I had had a chance

so again a nice example Veronica if I

had had a chance so I know it sounds

weird but this is correct when have is

your verb here when I had had is correct

if I had had time you need to change

have to had to make the past participle

form I would have helped you with your

homework if I hadn’t been so busy so

maybe a couple of things to practice

today

some people can practice this compared

to simple past tense couldn’t and

another thing is to practice using

making the third form conditional lots

of you are using wood with no have here

so maybe one point to practice is using

would have with the past participle

alright I have to end today’s lesson oh

my gosh it went so fast so thank you to

everybody for joining us today next week

I’m going to do a lesson about phrasal

verbs so many have asked about phrasal

verbs and it’s quite challenging to just

throw a bunch of verbs at you with no

category so next week’s category will be

phrasal verbs for the office phrasal

verbs for the office or phrasal verbs

you can use at work that will be our

topic for next week so the date next

week will be July 3rd July 3rd yeah July

3rd Wednesday July 3rd at 10 p.m.

Eastern Standard

I’m that is New York City time if you do

not know you’re a local time please

google it so next week we don’t have it

on screen but next week we’ll be phrasal

verbs for the office so a vocabulary

heavy lesson for next week I hope that

it’s helpful for lots of you even if you

don’t work in an office I will try to

make the lesson so you can use it like

at school as well so please join us

again next week at 10 p.m. Eastern

Standard Time thank you so much to

everybody for sending your example

sentences definitely review these

grammar points especially these two I

think and enjoy your studies so thanks

everybody again for liking sharing that

was awesome and we will see you again

next week don’t forget to download your

free stuff to enjoy your week enjoy your

weekend I will see you again next time

you