-2

  1. You should do that when she came

  2. You should have done it when she came

  3. You should do that before she came

  4. You should have done it before she came

  5. You should do that after she came

  6. You should have done it after she came

1 means that something should be done after her arrival and 2 before. Let's now consider 3 and 4. To me both are fine and mean the same thing. Now 5 and 6. I think 5 is okay but 6 I'm not sure about it.

To sum up: I'm sure that my understanding of 1 and 2 is correct. I don't know what about the rest. Can you tell me if they make sense?

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16
  • 3
    Only 2, 4 and 6 make sense. You can't recommend an action in relation to another action which has already happened. 1, 3 and 5 require comes.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Jul 8 at 15:46
  • 3
    Of course if you precede it with "I suggested that...", "I thought that..." etc. it is quite different, because those verbs are in the past tense. On its own, You should do that when she came is nonsense.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Jul 8 at 17:46
  • 1
    [Sighs]. Yes, the same applies to all your examples where the tenses don't match.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Jul 8 at 17:54
  • 3
    Have you tried translating your examples 1, 3 and 5 in your mother tongue using a bilingual dictionary and an online translation software? Do they all make sense in your native language? No.1 "You should do" (advice referring either to the present of future) "when she came" (to do something when she arrived in the past). It's a silly sentence, you're not understanding (or you pretend not to) the made up examples. There are many ways to say the same thing in English but this isn't the way to do it.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Jul 8 at 19:40
  • 1
    Then let's say No. 1, and 3, and 5 are nonsensical. They do not make sense. They are ungrammatical. The way you have constructed them are incorrect. They need to be revised and improved on.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Jul 8 at 19:49

1 Answer 1

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1

Agree with Kate.

'Should' refers to the present or future. 'Should have' refers to the past.

'she came' is in the past and 'should' needs to reflect that, regardless of whether the 'it' action was meant to occur before or after her arrival.

Just as a side not, 'arrived' might be better here, as it is more specific in time and place. 'when she came' is somewhat ambiguous and could mean 'on her way here'. More context would help.

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