Grammartalk 15, Page 1

1.
A: Sally was very late to work yesterday. She shouldn't have been so late.
B: I know. She went to a party last night, didn't she?
A: Yes, she did. She was smiling when she came home. She must have had a good time.
B: But she really shouldn't have gone to that late night party.
A: Right. It would have been better if she stayed home.
B: I'll say. Also, she should have gotten up much earlier.

2.
A: Jack's car broke down this morning.
B: I'm surprised to hear that. Jack has a new car.
A: Well, as a matter of fact, he ran out of gas.
B: It's easy to see what he should have done.
A: He should have filled up the tank before he left.
B: Exactly. He should have paid closer attention to the gas gauge.

3.
A: Marvin failed his Spanish test last week.
B: He shouldn't have spoken only English with his classmates.
A: Right, and he rarely attended class. He only went to school when he felt like it.
B: Not only did he skip class frequently, but when he attended, he nodded off.
A: Oh, no. He definitely shouldn't have slept in class.

4.
A: Maria is unhappy in her marriage. What went wrong?
B: She and Jerry rushed into marriage. They got married after going together for only one week.
A: They should have waited longer before deciding to tie the knot.
B: I heard that they started to fight over every little thing.
A: They shouldn't have fought so much. They should have tried to understand each other better.

5.
A: Barry didn't do as well as he should have at his job interview.
B: Yes. He should have gotten that job. He's very well qualified..
A: What should Barry have done differently?
B: For one thing, he should have spoken more confidently.
A: His clothes were too flashy. They weren't conservative enough.
B: He should have dressed more conservatively.
A: She should have arrived on time for his appointment.

6.
A: Barry asked a lot of questions about paid vacations.
B: He shouldn't have brought that subject up at the job interview.
A: He ate his lunch during the interview. That was pretty inappropriate.
B: Not only that, he spilled mayonnaise on the carpet. He shouldn't have eaten a turkey sandwich.
A: He should have left that terrible tie at home. It clashed with his other clothes.
B: It is a loud yellow tie.

Grammartalk 15, Page 2

1.
A: My shoes are too new. Even though I wore thick socks, I got blisters.
B: You should only wear new shoes an hour a day until they're broken in.
A: I might not have bought the right size. Different brands vary in size.
B: You should have walked around in the store to check them out.
A: Right. I shouldn't have been in such a hurry to buy them.
B: You shouldn't have worn your new shoes all day. You're bound to have blisters if you do.

2.
A: Mary's computer crashed this morning. She lost all her documents.
B: That's terrible. Were her files backed up?
A: I'm afraid not. She found a company that promised they would retrieve some of them, but not all of them.
A: It's easy to see what she should have done.
B: She should have saved her files on a disk or on a CD.
A: Exactly. It would have spared her a lot of grief.

3.
A: Marvin forgot his wife's birthday again last week.
B: He shouldn't have forgotten it. That was a big mistake. Was his wife upset?
A: She was no where to be found the next day. She must have gone to her sister's house.
B: Marvin should have circled the date on his calendar to remind himself.
A: Not only did he forget her birthday, he also failed to remember their tenth anniversary.
B: Oh, no. He definitely shouldn't have let that one slip his mind.

4.
A: Sophia is unhappy in her job. Do you know what the problem is?
B: Her employer made her work two extra hours everyday last week without paying her more.
A: She should have gotten overtime pay. Why didn't she?
B: I don't know. She could have spoken to her union representative about it, but she didn't.
A: She must have been afraid to offend her employer, but come on, fair is fair.
B: She accepted that position a little too quickly. With her qualifications and experience, I think she could have done better.

5.
A: Vicky's a great tennis player, but she really played badly yesterday.
B: She lost the tournament, but she should have won.
A: She should have practiced more.
B: Also, she should have done more warm up exercises before the match. And she went to a party the night before and drank too much.
A: She shouldn't have had alcohol the day before that important game.
B: She should have avoided parties until after the tournament.

6.
A: Boy, I'm really cold. It's freezing today.
B: You shouldn't have worn that short sleeve shirt.
A: I know. I should have put on a warm sweater.
B: You shouldn't have walked to school in this weather. You might have caught a cold.
A: I should have taken the bus. It's much warmer inside the bus.
B: You shouldn't have even thought about wearing sandals. Your toes must feel like ice.

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