He should've been here by now

[EngLearner]

A group of young people were going to a party held on an island by another group of young people. They needed to catch a boat at a certain time that was supposed to take them there, but they missed it, so they decided to ask local fishermen to take them there on their own boat. The fishermen agreed. Before getting on board, Jake Harley sent his friend on the island a voice message to let him know that he with his friends was on board, and that they would be at the party soon. However, the fishermen took Jake Harley and his friends hostage, so they didn't arrive at the island as expected. When the guys on the island noticed that something was wrong, the following conversation took place between them:

Guy #1: "Any of you guys seen Jake Harley? I just listened to a message from him, and he said he got a ride from some fishermen from New London."
Guy #2: "So?"
Guy #1: "That was over four hours ago. He should've been here by now."

Source: "Dead Sound", a movie (timestamp: 01h01m06s).

Does what guy #1 said imply that he believes that Jake Harley should've arrived at the party by now, but that he still isn't there at the moment?

If he had said instead: "That was over four hours ago. He should be here by now.", would that imply that he believed (even though nobody had seen Jake Harley at the party) that he had arrived there and was somewhere there at the moment?

 

[jutfrank]

He should have arrived by now.
He should have gotten here by now.

The 'should' expresses the expectation. The idea is that he is not here, contrary to expectation.

What the guy in the film says, with the stative verb 'been', is incorrect.

 

[EngLearner]

He should be here by now. = I believe that he's here now.

Can the simple form "should be" be used with "by now", and is my interpretation of the above sentence with "should be" correct?

 

[5jj]

He should be here by now. = I believe that he's here now.

Can the simple form "should be" be used with "by now",

Yes.

and is my interpretation of the above sentence with "should be" correct?

No. The sentence suggests that he is not here.

 

[EngLearner]

Guy #1: "Any of you guys seen Jake Harley? I just listened to a message from him, and he said he got a ride from some fishermen from New London."
Guy #2: "So?"
Guy #1: "That was over four hours ago. He should've been here by now."

The dialog would be correct then if guy #1 had said "should be" instead of "should have been", right? What he's saying is "It's been four hours, and Jake Harley isn't here yet."

 

[jutfrank]

The dialog would be correct then if guy #1 had said "should be" instead of "should have been", right?

If I were being really picky I'd say no because by now refers to a time before now. However, it would be quite natural to say that, yes.

 

[emsr2d2]

My interpretation of "He should be here by now" would depend on the surrounding context. If someone said to me "Let's go and find John. He should be here by now", I would take it to mean "I expect him to have arrived by now so we can go and find him". If someone said "I'm really angry that I can't find John. He should be here by now", it would mean either "He's not here" or "He's here but I can't find him".

 

[EngLearner]

A girl and a guy have been driving for a long time. They arrive at a remote place somewhere in the woods where their friends said they would be waiting for them. They pull up near a cabin, but they can't see their friends there. The girl then says to the guy:

Where's everyone? Shouldn't they be here by now?

Source: "Silent Retreat", a movie (timestamp: 05m38s).

She might as well have said: "Where's everyone? They should be here by now." The original and the version I came up with both have the following meaning in this context: "Where's everyone? Contrary to my expectation they aren't here." Am I right?

 

[emsr2d2]

"Shouldn't they be here by now?" asks someone else for confirmation of the speaker's belief that they should be here by now.
"They should be here by now" is simply a statement of fact.