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Mnrz57 Posted 12 years ago
Vocabulary
Would have thought so
Hi
I sometimes hear this from people. What is the meaning of "I would have thought so" ... is it the same as "I should have thought so" or different? Can you give me an example?
Thank you!
I sometimes hear this from people. What is the meaning of "I would have thought so" ... is it the same as "I should have thought so" or different? Can you give me an example?
Thank you!
Top answer
They can both express the speaker's belief or expectation that something previously proposed is likely to be correct: -- Don't more people own dogs than cats? -- I would/should have thought so. In this usage, my feeling is that "would" is more common nowadays.
- They can both express the speaker's belief or expectation that something previously proposed is likely to be correct: -- Don't more people own dogs than cats?
- -- I would/should have thought so.
- In this usage, my feeling is that "would" is more common nowadays.
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3 Answers
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They can both express the speaker's belief or expectation that something previously proposed is likely to be correct:
-- Don't more people own dogs than cats?
-- I would/should have thought so.
In this usage, my feeling is that "would" is more common nowadays.
-- Don't more people own dogs than cats?
-- I would/should have thought so.
In this usage, my feeling is that "would" is more common nowadays.
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Thanks... I'd like to rephrase my question:
consider this example:
A: The prices are now gone up
B: I should have thought so
From my understanding this means that before prices going up I should have thought about it but I didn't
Now with the reply "I would have thought so" this means: I knew that prices are going up and I thought about it but I didn't act o
consider this example:
A: The prices are now gone up
B: I should have thought so
From my understanding this means that before prices going up I should have thought about it but I didn't
Now with the reply "I would have thought so" this means: I knew that prices are going up and I thought about it but I didn't act o
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A: The prices have now gone up.
B: I should have thought so.
For me, B's response here is rather unclear and not tremendously likely. If it is an exclamation, it could express B's strong belief that any other outcome (other than prices going up) would have been abnormal. However, "I should think so!" is more common for this meaning.
B: I should have thought so.
For me, B's response here is rather unclear and not tremendously likely. If it is an exclamation, it could express B's strong belief that any other outcome (other than prices going up) would have been abnormal. However, "I should think so!" is more common for this meaning.
Mnrz57F
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