0
Anonymous Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
Should and its possibilities
I'm trying to introject something.
This sentence:
"The builders should have finished by the end of the week."
I don't know what it is, but it's kind of difficult for me to accept that this is talking about something that will happen. It seems to me that the meaning is "the builders were supposed to finish it by the end of the week, but they didn't".
Strangely, it sounds nice to me if I put something in between:
The builders should have the house finished by the end of the week.
(Is this even possible? Or the only correct form is "should have finished the house"?)
And the form *"The builders should finish by the end of the week"*, which sounds more natural to me, curiously. Is it completely incorrect?
And, finally, in the sense I was thinking about, how would be the sentence constructed? "The builders were supposed to finish it by the end of the week, but they didn't".
Perhaps: *The builders should had finished by the end of the week.*
Is it utterly atrocious? Haha.
This sentence:
"The builders should have finished by the end of the week."
I don't know what it is, but it's kind of difficult for me to accept that this is talking about something that will happen. It seems to me that the meaning is "the builders were supposed to finish it by the end of the week, but they didn't".
Strangely, it sounds nice to me if I put something in between:
The builders should have the house finished by the end of the week.
(Is this even possible? Or the only correct form is "should have finished the house"?)
And the form *"The builders should finish by the end of the week"*, which sounds more natural to me, curiously. Is it completely incorrect?
And, finally, in the sense I was thinking about, how would be the sentence constructed? "The builders were supposed to finish it by the end of the week, but they didn't".
Perhaps: *The builders should had finished by the end of the week.*
Is it utterly atrocious? Haha.
Top answer
* This is incorrect.
- * This is incorrect.
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
2 Answers
0
Everything you wrote was fine, except your last one:
*The builders should had finished by the end of the week.*
This is incorrect.
*The builders should had finished by the end of the week.*
This is incorrect.
00
Anonymous"The builders should have finished by the end of the week."I don't know what it is, but it's kind of difficult for me to accept that this is talking about something that will happen. It seems to me that the meaning is "the builders were supposed to finish it by the end of the week, but they didn't".I feel your pain.
0
Related Questions