should have + past participle
How do I form sentences with the structure "should have + past participle"?

For example:

1.) I should have started revising (for the exam) earlier.
2.) I should have explained myself more clearly.

Would these attempts be at least a little bit comprehensible?

1.) Saya sudah seharusnya mulai merevisi lebih awal. (sorry my online dictionary did not give me any accurate word for (to) revise)

2.) Saya seharusnya menjelaskan ..........lebih jelas??? (that sounds super awkward)

Sorry for my terrible Indonesian, but I am still a beginner!

Question

should have + past participle
How do I form sentences with the structure "should have + past participle"?

For example:

1.) I should have started revising (for the exam) earlier.
2.) I should have explained myself more clearly.

Would these attempts be at least a little bit comprehensible?

1.) Saya sudah seharusnya mulai merevisi lebih awal. (sorry my online dictionary did not give me any accurate word for (to) revise)

2.) Saya seharusnya menjelaskan ..........lebih jelas??? (that sounds super awkward)

Sorry for my terrible Indonesian, but I am still a beginner!

Answer

"Saya seharusnya" is awkward.

"Seharusnya" here means "should have", but unlike in English, "seharusnya" is treated as an adverb in Indonesian.

In English context, this sentence-commencing adverb is similar to "Actually, I want..." or "Supposedly, this is because..."

As for your sample sentences, the correct format would be:

Sentence 1:

Seharusnya saya mulai merevisi lebih awal (with the anglicism "revisi")
Seharusnya saya mulai mengkaji ulang lebih awal (with the proper Indonesian word "kaji ulang")

Both "revisi" and "kaji ulang" is interchangeable.

Sentence 2:

Seharusnya saya menerangkan lebih jelas.

In any other sentence, "menjelaskan" would be valid. However, you are correct that using "lebih jelas" after "menjelaskan" would make the sentence very awkward. Hence, you could use "menerangkan" instead.

I hope this helps!