Is "should" correctly used here?

Question

I shouldn't have been six years old when the accident happened.

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

wangqh2696122I shouldn't have been six years old when the accident happened.

That is a very strange sentence; it is not logical. What are you trying to say? -

This is fine, for instance.

I shouldn't have been at school when the accident happened.
The accident happened on a Sunday, and I was not normally at school on Sundays; I was usually at home playing with my brother.

Anonymous · Answer

what about this one: I shouldn't have been more than six years old when the accident happened.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

No. When you use "should not have been" it is about something in the past where there was an unusual circumstance, or something that has led to a bad consequence.

He is being punished and has to stay after school. He should not have insulted his teacher in front of the whole class.
I have a bad stomach ache. I should not have eaten so much ice cream.
He should not have played computer games so much. He was not prepared and failed the test.

I should not have given my friend all my money this morning.

Wangqh2696122 · Answer

But according to Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary (2nd edition published 2005),"should" can also be:

used to show when something is likely or expected:

I wonder what's happened to Annie. She should be (= It was expected that she would be) here by now.

So by "I shouldn't have been more than six years old when the accident happened", I mean "It was not likely that I was more than six years old when the accident happened".

Am I right?

Dimsumexpress · Answer

No, the sentence didn't sound logical at all. In that context, "should" is not used properly.  Perhaps, you tried to mean " if I remember right, I was roughly 6 years old when the accident happened ".

CalifJim · Answer

wangqh2696122I shouldn't have been six years old when the accident happened.

Oof! This won't do. You need "couldn't" if I understand the intended meaning correctly.

I couldn't have been six years old when the accident happened.
=
It's highly unlikely that I was six years old (i.e., I was younger) when the accident happened.

(Literally: It was impossible that I was six years old when the accident happened.)
___________

I wouldn't have been ... is possible as a substitute if you'd like another sentence with the same meaning.
___________

shouldn't have (or should have) generally operates in only two spheres of meaning: advice and expectation. Advice is out of the question. No one has any control over how old they are, so you can't have: It was advisable for me not to be six years old when the accident happened, which is one theoretically possible meaning, but it's a meaning that must be rejected as absurd. Expectation doesn't work either: I was expected not to be six years old when the accident happened is absurd for the same reason. Since all possible meanings of shouldn't have turn out to be absurd in the given context, the sentence is basically nonsense with shouldn't have.
__________________

Here's a sentence that makes sense with shouldn't have as advisory:

I shouldn't have been so strict with my children when they were younger.
(I was strict, but it would have been advisable for me not to have been so strict.)
______

And another, this time with the expecatation meaning:

I shouldn't have had so much trouble with that math problem.
(I'm usually quite good at math problems, but I had trouble with that one. It was quite unexpected, therefore, that I had trouble with it.)

In both cases, the subject (I) has control over the situtation. I had a choice whether to be strict or lax with the children. I was the person trying to solve the math problem. I may have found it easy; I may have found it difficult. But I expected it to be easier than it was.

In your sample sentence the subject has no control over his age. That's the difference.

By the way, the sentence Annie should be here by now works the same way. It's fine because Annie has control over where she is.

CJ

AlpheccaStars · Answer

wangqh2696122used to show when something is likely or expected:
I wonder what's happened to Annie. She should be (= It was expected that she would be) here by now.

This is only for present time or future time expectation.
e.g. It is 7:00 am. We should be eating breakfast now.

Bob's plane must be late. He should have arrived an hour ago.

The accident happened (you were six years old) and you can speculate that it ought not to have happened.

(Hypothetical in the past)

If I hadn't been in that accident when I was young, no more than six years old, I would have been a great basketball player. That accident should not have happened.

If you don't remember how old you were when this happened in the past, you can say:

I think that I was about six when the accident happened.
I must have been no more than six when the accident happened.
I was not more than six years old when the accident happened.
I couldn't have been more than six years old when the accident happened.

Is "should" correctly used here?

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