Should have + past participle

Use should have + past participle to make judgments about the past.

Here you will find a list of sentences using this pattern. Of course you can convert them into the negative form, shouldn’t have.

I know I should have called, but I was tied up at a meeting.

I’m exhausted. I shouldn’t have gone to bed so late.

I should have listened a long time ago. . . .

I should have invited my husband to join me…

I should have been happy.

I should have sought medical advice.

I should have had a happy childhood.

I should have done a better job.

I should have acted treacherously.

I should have realized the danger at the beginning.

I should have perished in my affliction.

I should have written to my own parents.

I should have finished college.

I should have bought that coat.

I should have left.

I should have done it sooner.

I should have waited.

I should have killed you.

A famous quotation:

It is fitting that we should have buried the Unknown Prime Minister [Bonar Law] by the side of the Unknown Soldier.

In Robert Blake The Unknown Prime Minister (1955) p. 531