| Meaning | With a Non-Perfect Infinitive (Present, Future; of past in Reported Speech) |
| moral obligation, advice, disapproval | You should work harder. The work should be done at once. You should be more careful next time. He should stop smoking. He said that I should thank her. You shouldn't laugh at his mistake. |
| Meaning | With a Perfect Infinitive (past,or prior to the moment of speech) |
| criticism of a past action (disapproval, reproach, regret) | You should have told him the whole truth. (But you didn't.) She should have been told the truth. (She wasn't.) I should have sent the telegram at once. (I didn't. I am sorry.) You shouldn't have mentioned the fact in her presence. (But you did.) I said that she shouldn't have let him go so early. (But she had and it was wrong.) |






