Criticizing people for doing or not doing things
February 21st, 2015 in English for children
To criticize people for not doing things use the structure you could have + past participle.
- You could have told me you weren’t coming.
- You could have behaved more decently.
- You could have paid for those drinks.
- You could have repaired the laptop.
- You could have knocked before entering my room.
- You could have told me you were quitting.
The structure You should have + past participle can also be used to criticize people for not doing things.
- You should have made another attempt.
- You should have waited a little longer.
- You should have accepted that invitation.
- You should have asked for help.
Use You should not have… to criticize people for doing unwanted things.
- You shouldn’t have called him a fool.
- You shouldn’t have wasted that opportunity.
- You shouldn’t have waited for his approval.
- You shouldn’t have resigned.
- You shouldn’t have ignored the symptoms.
- You shouldn’t have invited him.
The structure Needn’t have… is also used to talk about unwanted things that happened.
- You needn’t have woken me up. I don’t have to go to work today.
- You needn’t have called the police.
- You needn’t have cooked so much food. Nobody was hungry.
- You needn’t have watered the plants. Just after you finished it started raining.