How to Use the Past Conditional
In this quick English lesson about the past conditional tense, I talk about the differences between “Would have been”, “Could have been”, and “Should have been.” These are terms that can seem confusing to new English learners but you can learn to use them properly in your English conversations and your writings.
The past conditional “could have been,” “should have been,” and “would have been” structures often get skipped over in class. They seem quite complicated, but they don’t have to be! In this lesson, I’m going to quickly explain in what situations to use them and how they’re different from regular past tense verbs. I hope this helps to solve your doubts about this part of English grammar.
How to use the Phrase ‘Could Have Been’ in English
First of all, let’s take a moment to talk about pronunciation. Could + have is often shortened into “coulda” when speaking but not in writing.
For example:
“I coulda been a contender” is a famous line from On the Waterfront, a classic 1954 movie.
Now, let’s talk about grammar. “Could” is conditional. “Have + been” marks the past tense. As you may know, conditional grammar expresses an idea that is not real. It didn’t happen. However, we believe if certain conditions were met, then things could have been different.
For example:
“If I had worked harder, I could have been more successful.”
Or
“I could have been more successful if I had worked harder.”
How to use the Phrase ‘Should Have Been’ in English
First of all, let’s take a moment to talk about pronunciation. Should + have is often shortened into “shoulda” when speaking but not in writing.
“I should have been paying more attention to my English teacher but I was daydreaming too much.” This shows that you knew you were supposed to pay closer attention, but just weren’t focused enough on that task.
You know we use “should” to express an opinion. It is like “must” but weaker. Yet, it is stronger than “could.”
Use “should have been” to express what you think should have happened, but did not happen.
Often, you’ll hear this phrase used in arguments or regrets about the past.
For example:
“You should not have lied to me!”
“You should have been more careful!”
How to use the Phrase ‘Would Have Been’ in English
First of all, let’s take a moment to talk about pronunciation. Would + have is often shortened into “woulda” when speaking but not in writing.
For example, you might say something like, “I would have been there for your birthday party but I was sick in bed with the flu.”
This shows that you intended to be there but something came up that prevented you from going.
Things would have been different if another situation or condition had been met. In the above example, if I had not been sick.
You can also use “would have been better” to give advice.
For example:
“It would have been better if you had practiced a bit more before your presentation.”
What About “Must?”
Of course, as English is a language with many possibilities, there are more verbs that can result in different meanings. You may have heard someone say a sentence using the words, “must have been.” This is not a past conditional structure, but rather it is in the present perfect. “Must have been” is used to express an assumption, or an opinion that you gathered from a logical guess. In this case, we are not talking about something that is not true. In fact, we are talking about what we believe to be true (in the past)! To learn more about must vs. have, you might like to watch this English lesson.
If you’re curious about using the present perfect, and how to answer the common question “How have you been?” – click here for my lesson on how to answer this question like a native..
We often receive questions from English learners all over the world! While we cannot always answer every single one in detail, we really appreciate hearing from you and some of your inquiries make for great lesson ideas. In this video, Gabby will explain about could have been, would have been, should have been in English grammar. This was an excellent question from one of our online learners!
SHOULD HAVE BEEN
We use should have been in order to state our opinion.
Examples:
“I feel it should have been me going to Europe for that business trip, not Frank”
“The leader should have been Mary”
“There should have been a buttercream frosting on that cake, it would have been perfect”
WOULD HAVE BEEN
We use would have been is used to explain the logic of events.
Examples:
“The party would have been a disaster if Mary didn’t show up, she had everyone laughing”
“I would have been there but I had to pick up my daughter from school early today”
“Frank would have been here earlier, but he got held up in traffic”
COULD HAVE BEEN
We use could have been in order to discuss potential possibilities.
Examples:
“It could have been a lovely evening, but I had a really bad headache”
“I could have been Queen, had I been born into the royal family”
“Who ate all the cookies? It could have been Mary, she is a bit of a cookie monster”
Watch the video now to hear Gabby explain about could have been, would have been, should have been in English grammar!
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Suggestions
It would have been safer and cheaper than sending astronauts each time.
Это было бы дешевле и безопаснее, чем каждый раз посылать астронавтов на орбиту.
Excluding indigenous women from the draft resolution would have been a discriminatory gesture.
Исключение вопроса о женщинах, принадлежащих к коренным народам, из текста проекта резолюции было бы дискриминационным по своему характеру шагом.
Daniel would have been thrilled to see his work published.
Даниель был бы в восторге, если бы видел что его работа опубликована.
Without these, unemployment would have been high.
Если бы не они, уровень безработицы был бы еще выше.
He would have been more confident.
А она, кстати, была бы более достоверной».
He wonders what their wedding would have been like.
Он спрашивал себя, на что была бы похожа их свадьба.
That wine we had yesterday would have been perfect.
То вино, которое мы выпили вчера, было бы идеальным.
You implied that all would have been fine otherwise.
Это значит, что в противном случае всё было бы в порядке.
That would have been good though.
Хотя было бы хорошо, если бы были.
Relevant statistical information would have been especially useful.
Особенно полезной в этой связи была бы соответствующая статистическая информация.
Otherwise it would have been too dangerous for the athletes.
В противном случае это было бы крайне опасно для здоровья самих спортсменов.
I wonder sometimes how our lives would have been.
Я иногда думаю о том, какой была бы наша жизнь.
It would have been harder without family support.
Наверное, эта дорога была бы труднее, если бы не поддержка семьи.
I sometimes think how my life would have been.
Я иногда думаю о том, какой была бы наша жизнь.
Dalton knows this would have been different if…
По мнению Блохина, ситуация была бы другой, если…
Think how terrible that would have been.
Или что-то еще. Подумайте, как ужасно это было бы.
A dialogue between the Committee and the organization would have been welcome.
По мнению представителя Германии, целесообразно было бы наладить диалог между Комитетом и данной организацией.
Galileo’s work would have been inconceivable without Aristotelian physics.
Понимание Галилея, в частности, было бы немыслимо без физики Аристотеля.
Without her contributions, Carrie Bradshaw would have been incomplete.
Без ее вклада, образ Кэрри Брэдшоу был бы неполным», — сказала Паркер.
That would have been true independence.
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What’s the difference between these two examples:
1.»Your father would be proud of us.»
2.»Your father would have been proud of us.»
Eddie Kal
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asked May 17, 2015 at 6:50
In the first example, the second conditional expresses a hypothesis on a present situtation, imagining an impossible or unlikely event.
Your father would be proud of us (if he were here now)
It might as well imply he is dead, or simply away.
In the second example, the third conditional expresses a hypothesis on a past situation.
Your father would have been proud of us (if he had been there to see
us)
We don’t know if the father is dead now or even if he was dead at the time of the past action. We only know he was not there and so it was impossible for him to feel proud of us.
answered May 17, 2015 at 9:21
saintjulessaintjules
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The connotation of
- Your father would be proud of us.
Is that he would be proud if he was here and knew we did [x].
The connotation of
- Your father would have been proud of us.
Is that he would be proud of us if he were still alive and knew we did [x]. He is presumed to be dead.
answered May 17, 2015 at 7:46
The first sentence is purely hypothetical that nobody will ever know if what have been done is something that a father should be proud of while the second sentence is something that they have done to be proud of by any father but the thing is it will never happen because the father was not able to witness or see what they have done.
answered Mar 31, 2019 at 12:12
JamesJames
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Словосочетания
Автоматический перевод
так бы и было
Перевод по словам
would — бы, желание
have — иметь, обладать, получать, содержать, обман, мошенничество
be — быть, находиться, должен, тратта
Примеры
Unix Lite would have been okay four years ago.
Упрощенная версия «Юникса» подошла бы четыре года назад.
If he had consented, all would have been right.
Если бы он согласился, все было бы хорошо (но он не согласился).
It would have been sufficient to send a brief note.
Можно было ограничиться лишь кратким сообщением.
It would have been easy for the team to lose the game.
Проиграть в этом матче для команды было бы очень просто.
It would have been laughable if it hadn’t hurt so much.
Это было бы смешно, если бы не было так больно.
We never would have been caught if he hadn’t finked on us.
Нас бы никогда не поймали, если бы он на нас не настучал.
This technology would have been unimaginable five years ago.
Ещё пять лет назад эту технологию невозможно было бы вообразить.
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Примеры, отмеченные *, могут содержать сленг и разговорные фразы.
Примеры, ожидающие перевода
These herbs would have been grown for medicinal purposes in days gone by. 
Anyone else would have been tearing their hair out trying to work it out.
You missed your vocation (=you would have been good at a particular job).
We were delayed at the airport. Otherwise we would have been here by lunch time.
…a galactic serving of soda that would have been enough for three moviegoers…
At that time, it would not have been thinkable to openly criticize the government.
…a monster in the closet would not have been the first chimera that the boy had seen in his mind’s eye…
Для того чтобы добавить вариант перевода, кликните по иконке ☰, напротив примера.
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- 27,527
Hello everyone!!
I’d like to ask you what is the difference between would be and would have been?
Eg: It would be better if…..
It would have been better if…..
What is the rule how to use each of those expressions?
Thank you very much for your answer 
- _Tery_
- answer
Comments
Anonymouswhat’s the difference between WOULD BE and WOULD HAVE BEEN.
It would be better if …
It would have been better if …
The difference is in whether it’s TOO LATE to change your decision.
Let’s say you’re driving somewhere, and you can take the high road or the low road to get there.«It WOULD BE better IF you took the high road» — You haven’t made your decision yet, and this person is saying that you SHOULD take the high road, because that WILL be, or WOULD BE, better.
«It WOULD HAVE BEEN better IF YOU HAD TAKEN the high road» — It’s too late now, you’ve taken the low road, but this person is saying that you SHOULD HAVE taken the high road.«WOULD HAVE BEEN» refers to the time IN THE PAST when you made the decision to take the low road. At that time, if you had chosen to take the high road, it WOULD HAVE BEEN better.
- KrisBlueNZ
- add a comment
In the entry for IDIOM in A Dictionary of Modern English Usage (my hardback is the classic first edition) by Mr Fowler:
Idiom is any form of expression that, as compared with other forms in which the principles of abstract grammar, if there is such a thing, would have allowed the idea in question to be clothed, has established itself as the particular way preferred by Englishmen & therefore presumably characteristic of them.
IS is used to refer to a simple, unconditional present situation, but WOULD HAVE ALLOWED is a past hypothetical situation; could you tell me why it isn’t WOULD ALLOW?
- Johnson13
- add a comment
Is, isn’t, would, wouldn’t, and so on apply to present situations. Would have, could have, should have, might have, shouldn’t have, etc apply to past hypothetical situations where it’s now too late to change what happened; they relate to choices that were made in the past and what the outcome may have been if different choices had been made at the time.
- KrisBlueNZ
- add a comment
Thanks.
But in that case, isn’t the meaning strange? Fowler relates a past hypothetical situation to a present non-hypothetical situation. Of course I can’t challenge his grammar, but isn’t it better to say
if there were (or had been) such a thing, would have XYZ-ed….
OR
if there is such a thing, would allow….
to make it consistent? HW Fowler’s usage is a mixed one, but it isn’t intelligible.
- Johnson13
- add a comment
I see what you’re saying, but…
The clause «if there is such a thing» is a parenthetical comment on «the principles of abstract grammar». His parenthetical comment is saying that he has some doubt whether there «is such a thing» as «the principles of abstract grammar», in a general way, not specifically in relation to the time when the idiom was formed, i.e. when the idiomatic word or phrase became idiomatic.
In Fowler’s opinion, the question of whether there «is such a thing» as «the principles of abstract grammar» is a general one, which (presumably) applied at the time when the idiom was formed, but still applies now. It doesn’t really relate to any specific time, past or present, although it is expressed in the present tense.
- KrisBlueNZ
- add a comment
Thanks.
Is this sentence exactly the same structure as Fowler’s and grammatical?
If poetry is to be defined by the subject matter alone, Mr Walcott would have ended up with material five times superior to that of the bard who wrote in the Ionian dialect and who, too, loved the sea.
- Johnson13
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