I should not have succeeded

[Francois]

I should not have succeeded without his help.

Could you say that in AE?

FRC

 

[Steven D]

I should not have succeeded without his help.

Could you say that in AE?

FRC

It's a possibility, but it's extremely rare. In some cases "should" is used in place of "would". This is very formal sounding. I would not place a lot of emphasis on it. I would talk about it with students if I thought it might interest them for some reason. It would depend on the student and his or her language needs and what sort of interest he or she has in the English language.

example:

I should like to know what has been going on here. - formal - very uncommon - This use of "should" is hardly ever used at all in American English. It is, however, a possibility. I should like to say it is really quite uncommon. 8) :shock:

I would like to know what has been going on here. - normal - common

 

[Steven D]

I should not have succeeded without his help.

Could you say that in AE?

FRC

I would just stick with, "I would not have succeeded without his help."

8) :shock: :wink:

 

[Francois]

It is my understanding that it's more common in BE; is that correct?

FRC

 

[Steven D]

It is my understanding that it's more common in BE; is that correct?

FRC

That's possible. I would ask TDOL or Red5.

 

[Tdol]

It's a formal BrE form.;-)