Should / past tense

He said that they would be at the restaurant by 2pm.

He said that they should be at the restaurant by 2pm.

Can should be used like would in the past tense like this?

Thanks.

anyone please?

Yes

Hi,

I would say:

"He said that they would have been" or"should have been" since the sentence begins with a verb in past tense.

Am I wrong?

You and your friends are waiting for John and his wife at a restaurant. It is 1:45. Your friends want to order.

You say, "it's still a little early. John said that they would be at the restaurant by 2pm."

or

John said that they should be at the restaurant by 2pm.

Is it ok to use "should" in the past tense?

I suppose you mean "after a clause in the past tense". Yes, that's perfectly fine. 'should' is not very fussy about which tense comes before it.

Dear Alpheccastars,

thanks for the explanation although I am still not clear :-(

If I say today that yesterday John (he) said that he should have gone to the restaurant, I feel I must use "should have gone"instead of "should go" because it is something related to the past and not to the present or future.

Please can somoneone clarify that?

Thanks!!

Pame

awesome. thank you.

John said he would / should be at the restaurant at 2:00 on Saturday, Dec. 17.

The should / would modal auxiliaries show future time relative to a time in the past (not the present time.) John said is past time relative to the time of speaking, but what follows is future relative to the time that John spoke. This sentence tells us nothing about his being at the resta

Hi,

ohhhh yes!!! now I get the difference!!! sorry, I did not notice it before....

Now it is clear!

Thanks

Pamela