Jack: what have you been doing? Alex: I have been moping. Jack: you should have been wiping the windows. Is the conversation correct with 'should have been'?
Top answer
Jack: W hat have you been doing? Alex: I've been moping. Jack: Y ou should have been wiping the windows.
— GPY
Jack: W hat have you been doing?
Alex: I've been moping.
Jack: Y ou should have been wiping the windows.
"should have been" is correct.
"I have" is not actually wrong, of course, but in a conversation "I've" would be far more usual.
Free · every Monday
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.