To convey the meaning of “would/could/should have …” in Spanish, we resort to the conditional perfect tense.
“Would have”
“Would have” + past participle = “Haber” in conditional tense + past participle, for example:
| Yo lo habría hecho. | I would have done it. |
| Ellos habrían pagado. | They would have paid. |
| Nosotros habríamos venido. | We would have come. |
“Could have”
“Could have” + past participle = “Poder” in conditional tense + “haber” + past participle, for example:
| Yo lo podría haber hecho. | I could have done it. |
| Ellos podrían haber pagado. | They could have paid. |
| Nosotros podríamos haber venido. | We could have come. |
“Should have”
One way to say “Should have” in Spanish is:
“Should have” + past participle = “Deber” in conditional tense + “haber” + past participle
For example:
| Yo lo debería haber hecho. | I should have done it. |
| Ellos deberían haber pagado. | They should have paid. |
| Nosotros deberíamos haber venido. | We should have come. |
Another way to express the expression “should have …” is by using “tener” in the conditional tense:
“Should have” … + past participle = “Tener” in conditional tense + “que haber” + past participle
Here are some examples using the above structure:
| Yo tendría que haberlo hecho. | I should have done it. |
| Ellos tendrían que haber pagado. | They should have paid. |
| Nosotros tendríamos que haber venido. | We should have come. |
Next: Pluperfect Indicative Tense
More lessons in Level VI:
