[Grammar] should and should have

[Checkmate]

"I should have been here by now."

Could I say "should be" instead of sentence above in the same context?

 

[Roman55]

I am not a teacher.

'I should have been here by now' makes no sense at all. You are where you are, and from the subjective point of view, here is where I am all the time.

'I should be here by now' is hardly any better.

'I should be there by now' is meaningful, and so are 'You/he/she/it/they should have been here by now'

 

[Checkmate]

Then let me use other sentences:

"He should arrive by now."

"He should have arrived by now."

Can they be used interchangeably?

 

[Raymott]

No, "He should arrive by now" is just as meaningless. He either has arrived or he hasn't.
To save further bother, I doubt whether you can come up with two sentences, one with 'should' and the other with 'should have' that are interchangeable.

 

[Checkmate]

No, "He should arrive by now" is just as meaningless. He either has arrived or he hasn't.
To save further bother, I doubt whether you can come up with two sentences, one with 'should' and the other with 'should have' that are interchangeable.

I'm not used to using "Should have" in Present time. I hope it won't be a mistake to say "Should".

 

[Tarheel]

I'm not used to using "Should have" in Present time. I hope it won't be a mistake to say "Should".

I guarantee you that if you use "should" instead of "should have" (or the other way around) you will get sentences that have two entirely different meanings.

 

[Checkmate]

I guarantee you that if you use "should" instead of "should have" (or the other way around) you will get sentences that have two entirely different meanings.

Should arrive = Future.

Should have arrived = Past & Present.

Is this what you meant?

 

[Tarheel]

Should arrive = Future.

Should have arrived = Past & Present.

Is this what you meant?

Close enough.

:up: