Timeline for Meaning of "should have past particle"
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
6 events
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| Jun 19, 2018 at 10:26 | comment | added | James | Sometimes the meaning of an English sentence is derived not just from the words that are spoken, but also from the emphasis or stress that is placed upon a word within that sentence, e.g. I tell some people not to go to a particular location because it has a bad reputation, but they ignore me and go there anyway. Later I am told that they had a hard time when they went there. It is quite possible that I might respond, "They should have had a hard time", with an emphasis on the word 'should'. This effectively means, "They deserved to have had a hard time because they ignored my warning." | |
| Jun 19, 2018 at 4:06 | comment | added | Mango Gummy | Thanks again. Could you please explain more the 3rd meaning(They had a hard time and it was what they deserved)? I did not know that should have past particle can mean it. Is it related to the above explanation in my question, "something that, if everything is normal and okay, we think has already happened."? | |
| Jun 19, 2018 at 4:04 | vote | accept | Mango Gummy | ||
| Jun 19, 2018 at 2:34 | comment | added | James | @Mango Gummy Taken by itself, without any other text to give it context, this sentence could possibly mean at least three different things, depending on the voice inflection of the speaker. 1. I thought that they were going to have a hard time, but they didn't. 2. "I was hoping they would have a hard time, but they didn't." 3. "They had a hard time and it was what they deserved." English is a fun language. | |
| Jun 19, 2018 at 2:09 | comment | added | Mango Gummy | Thanks. Then how about "They should have had hard time."? Does it mean I expected they had a hard time but they did not? | |
| Jun 19, 2018 at 2:07 | history | answered | James | CC BY-SA 4.0 |