"should win" or "should have won"

handtalkCan you say "We lost a game we should win." ?
Or, it has to be "We lost a game we should have won." ?

Hi

The second one is correct.

BillJ

Thanks BillJ,

Is there any context that you can say the first sentence,"we lost a game we should win." ?

handtalkIs there any context that you can say the first sentence,"we lost a game we should win." ?

Hi

No, I'm afraid not. The expression 'we lost a game' means not only that the game took place wholly in a past time, but importantly that the game is complete - it's finished. The expression 'we should win' here implies that the game will take

Thanks BillJ.

I thought I've heard people say "It was a game we should win."

So I thought "We lost the game we should win" might also be possible.

May be it was meant to be a hyphenated word, like "a game-we-should-win" ...?

I may be asking too many questions. I hope it is not bothering you...

Thanks.

handtalkI thought I've heard people say "It was a game we should win."
So I thought "We lost the game we should win" might also be possible.
May be it was meant to be a hyphenated word, like "a game-we-should-win" ...?

Hi

You may well hear people say that, but it's not Standard English. You can't say 'It was a game we should win' for the

You may have heard that, but people are not always careful in their speech.

This will be a game we should win.
It was a game we should have won.

If you thought you were going to win before the game, but you lost anyway, I guess you might say "It was a should-win game, but we lost anyway."

Thanks again BillJ.

It is clear now.

Thanks Grammar Geek. It's clear now.