Could Have, Should Have or Must Have?

Lindsay McMahon (0:00)

This is an All Ears English Podcast episode 2705 Could have, should have, or must have.

Welcome to the All Ears English Podcast, downloaded more than 200 million times. Are you feeling stuck with your English? We'll show you how to become fearless and fluent by focusing on connection, not perfection, with your American host, Aubrey Carter, the IELTS whiz. And Lindsay McMahon, the English adventurer. Coming to you from Arizona and Colorado, USA. To get real-time transcripts right on your phone and create your personalized vocabulary list, try the All Ears English app for iOS and Android. Start your 7-day free trial at allearsenglish.com/app.

Aubrey Carter (0:58)

When you talk about regrets, make guesses, or speculate about past possibilities, don't get confused between these modals. Listen in today to learn the difference and what to use when.

SPEAKER_3 (1:16)

Fluency is not about speaking perfectly. It's about communicating comfortably.

Being able to share your ideas without stress, react naturally in conversations, and express your personality in English. If English still feels like something you have to manage carefully, you're probably very close to the next level of fluency. But progress becomes much faster once you know exactly where you stand. Take our free two-minute fluency quiz and discover your English level today. Go to allearsenglish.com/fluencyscore.

That's allearsenglish.com/f-l-u-e-n-c-y-s-c-o-r-e.

Aubrey Carter (2:11)

Hey, Lindsay. How are you today?

Lindsay McMahon (2:13)

Hey, Aubrey. I'm feeling good today. How are you? How's everything?

Aubrey Carter (2:16)

I am great. I have a question for you.

Lindsay McMahon (2:18)

All right.

Aubrey Carter (2:19)

What is something you should have done last week but didn't get to?

Lindsay McMahon (2:24)

Oh my gosh.

Aubrey Carter (2:25)

There's always something, right?

Lindsay McMahon (2:26)

Let's see. There's a lot of work things.

A lot of emails I have not returned that people are waiting, and I went on vacation last week, so that's probably not so good, but I will get to it eventually, right?

SPEAKER_4 (2:38)

Right. Exactly. We all have this.

Aubrey Carter (2:39)

Something we should have done last week, something on our to-do list. We weren't able to get to it. But what's interesting is, how would that be different if I had said, what's something you could have done last week, but didn't get to? Or what's something you must have? We wouldn't even say it that way, right? These modals really change the question, right?

Lindsay McMahon (2:59)

It really does. When you say what's something you could have done, it's more like it would have been voluntary. It would have been an optional thing, whereas should have returned those emails, those people are waiting to hear back.

Aubrey Carter (3:11)

That's very different, right? It could have been very optional, not something on your to-do list of things that have to get done. Yeah. So we got a great question about this on YouTube, about the differences between some of these modals. Do you want to read that question for us, Lindsay?

Lindsay McMahon (3:25)

Yes. Yes. This is from Cypher Ahmad Sendiki, 1871 A great handle there.

Dears, would you talk about the differences between could have, should have, and must have?

Aubrey Carter (3:39)

Such a great question, right? These are all modal verbs that are used to make guesses, express regret, or talk about past possibilities. And it really does change. Like the feeling of what you're asking or the meaning of what you're saying changes a lot, depending on which one you use.

Lindsay McMahon (3:58)

Massively. So we're going to make sure we clear this up for our listeners today. And I'm sure many of our listeners have the same question, right? Are wondering the same thing.

Aubrey Carter (4:06)

Yes.

Lindsay McMahon (4:07)

Guys, before we go any further, though, make sure you hit the follow button right here on All Ears English. Pretty soon, we're getting in the fall already, aren't we, Aubrey? We're well into the fall.

We want to be really lined up with our learning. If you get addicted to All Ears English, you will see the improvement. We've had so many students tell us they just listen five days a week and they're listening improved enormously. So become one of those people, all right?

Aubrey Carter (4:30)

Yes, absolutely. I love that. I love hearing that feedback from students, for sure.

Lindsay McMahon (4:35)

Yeah, all right.

Aubrey Carter (4:36)

Let's share really quick, right off the top here, the grammar of this. For each of these, the grammar structure is the same. So that helps at least. You have this modal either could, should, or must, and then they're all structured the same. After that, you're going to have the word have, and then the past participle, right? So something you should have done, must have done, would have all of the past participle will be different for every verb depending on what you're talking about, but the structure is always the same.