MODALS OF LOST

OPPORTUNITY
They describe situations when we are
imagining that the past was different
 The general rule of
Should and Could is:
• Should for recommendation / advice
“If you want to lose weight, you should eat healthy
food.”
• Could for possibilities
“I have the day off tomorrow.”
“Great! We could spend the day at the beach.
Or we could go shopping.”
 Should Have
• If you arrive late to
English class, you can
• To say that a say:
“I should have left my house
different action was earlier.”
recommended in the
• If you regret an
past
argument, you can say:
• To tell other people “I shouldn’t have yelled at you
that a different yesterday. I’m sorry.”
action in the past • If your son fails a test,
would have been you can say:
better “You should have studied.
You shouldn’t have played
video games all weekend.”
 Could Have
• Someone who didn’t go to
• to talk about college can say:
possibilities if “If I had gone to college, I could
something had been have gotten a better job.”
different in the past
• Could have is often • When talking about a
used with “if + had + gymnast who didn’t win a
past participle” competition, you can say:
• These “if” phrases “She could have won the gold medal
if she hadn’t fallen three times.”
express the imaginary
past • Imagine you’re driving with
situation. However, in a person who makes a
some cases you can dangerous maneuver on the
use could have without road. You can say:
the “if” phrase “Are you crazy? We could
have gotten into an accident.”