Past events that did not happen: "The package should have arrived this morning, but didn't" Regret at things that have happened: "I shouldn't have yelled." Things that may or may not have happened. "She should have left the office by now, but we can still call her in case she is there." Negative speculation about what may have happened: "He probably shouldn't have been in the area of the accident, but it won't hurt to find out for sure."

It is used to show that you made a wrong choice and did the wrong thing. It shows the right choice and implies that you made the wrong choice. Let's go to an example. Yesterday (or any other time in the past) I did not do my homework and now I am in class and the teacher is collecteing the homework. Oh-Oh! I should have done my homework yestersay, now I am in trouble! Hope this helps! John

There isn't one. Mainly because it is not needed. There is no present perfect, either. "should have" is a kind of past tense. Compare it to the past simple of other verbs and you will realise this. So, you may wonder about reported speech, right? Well,when reporting "should have", you simply use "should have". Such is English! "You shouldn't have put that arrow in your head." He said I shouldn't have put that arrow in my head.

themax, In each time frame English verbs have a perfective aspect that expresses something being completed before a time mentioned. In the conditional the completion is only theoretical. 1. Present Perfect He has called before now. 2. Past Perfect He had called before then. 3. Future Perfect He will have called before that time in the future. 4. Conditional Perfect He should have called before now or then. “Should have” is the Conditional Perfect equivalent of the Past Perfect. He called before he left. (Past Perfect) He should have called before he left. (Conditional Perfect) ------