Would/Could/Should Have …” in Spanish

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:

“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.

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.

More lessons in Level VI: