Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[aisen]

Hi all,

I need some grammar advice.

"No one was prepared for Professor Hill's questions."
"I guess we should have read the lesson last night."

I sometimes encounter this kind of "should have," which, I understand, implies that something has not in fact happened. My question is; how would you say when you don't want to imply that something has not in fact happened, another word, when I want to be neutral.

In the above example, I think I can say,
... we had to read the lesson last night.
Is this correct? If there are some other ways, please let me know.

Yours,

[lotus]

Hi aisen,

Your response would have revealed your lack of preparedness in one way or another, especially since "no one was prepared." But, to make it less obvious, try:

We probably should have studied the lesson more carefully last night.
Reading the lesson more carefully last night would have helped.
We should have studied harder.


--lotus

[aisen]

Hello lotus,

Thank you again for helping me. I really appreciate your help.

Yours