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Trex Posted 18 years ago
Grammar
should have done / be supposed to have done
She was angry with you because of your behaviour. You ---- more polite. If you had been more polite ,she wouldn't have got angry with you.
A) should have been
B) were supposed to have been
C) are supposed to have been
D) were supposed to be
Which ones are correct? Why are the others wrong?
A and C seem correct to me. I'm not sure about B.
Is "are supposed to have been" = "were supposed to be" = "should have been"?
A) should have been
B) were supposed to have been
C) are supposed to have been
D) were supposed to be
Which ones are correct? Why are the others wrong?
A and C seem correct to me. I'm not sure about B.
Is "are supposed to have been" = "were supposed to be" = "should have been"?
Top answer
Grammatically, these are all correct. I would have to guess they are looking for "A" because the other phrases all include "were supposed to be," which implies advance planning. However, I can easily imagine a scenario for D: the director, John, angrily leaves the theater in the middle of a rehearsal.
- Grammatically, these are all correct.
- I would have to guess they are looking for "A" because the other phrases all include "were supposed to be," which implies advance planning.
- However, I can easily imagine a scenario for D: the director, John, angrily leaves the theater in the middle of a rehearsal.
- The actor asks why.
- The assistant director say, "You were supposed to be more polite.
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7 Answers
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Grammatically, these are all correct. I would have to guess they are looking for "A" because the other phrases all include "were supposed to be," which implies advance planning. However, I can easily imagine a scenario for D: the director, John, angrily leaves the theater in the middle of a rehearsal. The actor asks why. The assistant director say, "You were supposed to be more polite. You still
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>Is "are supposed to have been" = "were supposed to be" = "should have been"?
No.
"Should have been" has a note of obligation or imputation to it. It's stronger.
You had to be more polite, but you weren't.
"Were supposed to be": people thought you would be more polite.
No.
"Should have been" has a note of obligation or imputation to it. It's stronger.
You had to be more polite, but you weren't.
"Were supposed to be": people thought you would be more polite.
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HeiditaOnly a is correct.I agree with you. Only (a) is correct.
cheers[H]
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Interesting. I can create contexts in which each one is correct. However, A is certainly the most likely.
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Hi, everybody. I am a teacher of English. My name is Mustafa. I think the answer depends on the situation- the context. The two appropriate answers are a) and d). Here we talk about an accidental situation. It was not planned. If the speaker is blaming, then the first option would be correct, I suppose.
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Anonymous Here we talk about an accidental situationThere is no evidence that it was accidental
As Barbara said six years ago, it's possible to think of contexts for all of them.
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