Should and Might have done.

[tufguy]

"If you had known, you should have helped". It is a suggestion here. If it is a suggestion then "If he had taken the 8:30 flight he should have reached here before midnight" is it just a suggestion as well?

If I had known, I might have helped. In this the speaker is saying that whether he had helped or not if he had known. But he might have gone is a different expression than "I might have helped". Am I correct?

Please check.

 

[Matthew Wai]

I think 'should have done', 'might have done', and 'would have done' refer to a past expectation, a past possibility, and a past certainty respectively.

 

[GoesStation]

"If you had known, you should have helped".

Write If you knew, you should have helped.

 

[tufguy]

Write If you knew, you should have helped.

I read this sentence "You had known, you should have helped" in the link provided by Piscean. Is it incorrect?

"If you knew, you should help" is it correct?

I read one more sentence there "If I had time, I should learn this language" what does the should clause mean here?

I know the meaning of "Should have done" but what does it mean in the sentence that I have mentioned in post 1?

As I am trying to understand these things they are getting more complicated. Please help.

 

[Raymott]

"If you had known, you should have helped". It is a suggestion here. If it is a suggestion then "If he had taken the 8:30 flight he should have reached here before midnight" is it just a suggestion as well?

No, in your second sentence 'should' is used differently. It's an expectation.

1. "You have a meeting at 9 am. Therefore, you should be at the office by 9 am." - obligation, suggestion.
2. "If you leave now, you should be at the office by 9 am." - expectation.

[This is definitely enough material for one thread, tufguy.]

 

[tufguy]

No, in your second sentence 'should' is used differently. It's an expectation.

1. "You have a meeting at 9 am. Therefore, you should be at the office by 9 am." - obligation, suggestion.
2. "If you leave now, you should be at the office by 9 am." - expectation.

[This is definitely enough material for one thread, tufguy.]

But in my second sentence it is clear that it is a speculation right? He didn't take the flight.

 

[tufguy]

If we are talking about a past-time failure to go. "If you knew" gives the distinct impression that you did know; "If you had known" tells us that you did not know.

A: I knew he was ill, but I didn't have time to go.
B: If you knew, you should have gone.

I didn't know he was ill. I am not sure I would have gone even if I had known.
B: If you had known, you should have gone.

"If you knew" it is not a second conditional sentence here right? but what about that sentence "If I had the time, I should learn Hindi" is it also an expectation here?

 

[tufguy]

Are you asking about "If he had taken the 8:30 flight he should have reached here before midnight"?

Yes.

 

[tufguy]

You have ignored my question and asked a different one, yet again. How many times have we asked to to deal with one thing at a time? This thread is in danger of becoming as confusing as some of your others. I'll leave you to it.

Sorry I didn't see your post we must have posted our comments at the same time that is why it happened. Sorry for this.

 

[Rover_KE]

I didn't see your post we must have posted our comments at the same time that is why it happened.

There are three sentences there which you have run together. Are you learning nothing from our painstaking replies?

As I understand it, if you wrote that in Hindi you would have to use punctuation corresponding to full stops (periods) to separate them.

 

[Raymott]

But in my second sentence it is clear that it is a speculation right? He didn't take the flight.

"If he had taken the 8:30 flight he should have reached here before midnight".

You don't know that he didn't take the flight. The flight could have been delayed, or the plane could have crashed.
But to the main point. No, this isn't the should of suggestion. It's the should of expectation.
"He should have taken an earlier plane" - suggestion, obligation.
"He should be here by now." - expectation.

 

[Matthew Wai]

Sorry I didn't see your post we must have posted our comments at the same time

Have you ever come across the word 'cross-post' on this forum?

 

[tufguy]

Have you ever come across the word 'cross-post' on this forum?

No.

 

[tufguy]

You have ignored my question and asked a different one, yet again. How many times have we asked to to deal with one thing at a time? This thread is in danger of becoming as confusing as some of your others. I'll leave you to it.

No, I clicked "Like" to answer in affermative. I think you didn't see that.

 

[tufguy]

There are three sentences there which you have run together. Are you learning nothing from our painstaking replies?

As I understand it, if you wrote that in Hindi you would have to use punctuation corresponding to full stops (periods) to separate them.

Sorry for this I got confused that is why it happened.

 

[tufguy]

"If he had taken the 8:30 flight he should have reached here before midnight".

You don't know that he didn't take the flight. The flight could have been delayed, or the plane could have crashed.
But to the main point. No, this isn't the should of suggestion. It's the should of expectation.
"He should have taken an earlier plane" - suggestion, obligation.
"He should be here by now." - expectation.

If I had time, I should learn Hindi. Is it also an expactation here? If yes then speaker is expecting it from themself (I hope it is correct to use themself here)?


If I had known, I might have helped. what is the meaning of "Might have helped" here? Is the speaker not sure whether they had helped or not?

 

[Matthew Wai]

"If he had taken the 8:30 flight he should have reached here before midnight".

You don't know that he didn't take the flight.

I think the speaker knows that.

 

[emsr2d2]

No, I clicked "Like" to answer in the affirmative. I think you didn't see that.

"If I had time, I should learn Hindi." Is it also an expectation here? If yes, then is the speaker [strike]is[/strike] expecting it from [strike]themself[/strike] himself/herself/themselves (I hope it is correct to use "themself" here)?

"If I had known, I might have helped." What is the meaning of "might have helped" here? Is the speaker not sure whether they had helped or not?

Please note my corrections above. We are back to having to add quotation marks to make your posts clearer, and to having to correct really basic spelling mistakes. You seem to have stopped proofreading your posts.

In the second example, "might have helped" does not mean he's not sure if he did help or not. He is saying that he didn't know (what he didn't know is unspecified) but that if he had known, it's possible that he would have helped.

 

[GoesStation]

In the second example, "might have helped" does not mean he's not sure if he did help or not. He is saying that he didn't know (what he didn't know is unspecified) but that if he had known, it's possible that he would have helped.

Tufguy, might is a tricky word. Sometimes it conveys uncertainty about what happened: My cousin might have voted [but I'm not sure].​ Sometimes it conveys possibility, as in your example.