Usage of should have p.p

Question

I have learned that should have p.p can be used for the meaning of would have p.p, especially in British English and I was wondering how then we can distinguish between them? Come to think of it, when should have p.p is used for the meaning of obligation, I have never seen it was written with if clauses but when should have p.p is used for meaning of would have p.p, I think that it should be with if clauses like"If I had wanted to get better scores, I should (would) have studied harder."If we consider the meaning of should in the sentence as an obligation, the sentence does not make sense, but would is fine, isn't it?Or when should have p.p is used for the meaning of obligation, have you ever seen it is used with if clauses?What do you native English speakers think?

Laborious · Accepted Answer

Hi,

Hans51I have learned that should have p.p can be used for the meaning of would have p.p, especially in British English and I was wondering how then we can distinguish between them?

I have seen both 'should have + PP" and 'would have + PP" in conditional sentences which refer to past. But I encounter with "would have" more often than I encounter with "should have'. And as far as the difference between 'would have (in result clause)' and 'should have (in result clause)' is concerned, I have read that "should have + past participle" means 'it would have been a good idea or it would have been necessary for someone to do something; while "would have + past participle" suggests that 'you would have certainly done something or you would have been willing to do something'.

So we could say both (as I've read):

- If I had wanted to get better scores, I should have studied harder. (it would have been necessary/a good idea for me to study harder). [But since I didn't want to get better scores, it was not necessary for me].

- If I had wanted to get better scores, I would have studied harder. (I would have been willing / I would have certainly studied harder.) [But since I didn't want to get better scores, I didn't (or was not willing to) study harder.]

I am not sure if we can use 'should have + past participle' in 'if - clauses', though. I hope natives around here will help us with this one.

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Usage of should have p.p

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