Lesson 79: Unit 133 - Criticism About The Past
In this lesson you learn how to express criticism and regret about past actions with the structure “should have done” / “shouldn't have done” through a dialogue and practical exercises.
About this lesson
In this lesson you will learn how to criticise and evaluate past actions in English. You will master the structures “should have done” and “shouldn't have done” to say that someone did something they were not supposed to do, or did not do something they were supposed to do. You will work with an authentic dialogue between Tony and Jessie and practise through a variety of exercises. Through real examples you will develop the ability to express regret and constructive criticism about past situations.
40 minutes
What you'll learn
- Understand and use the structure 'should have done' to criticise past actions.
- Form the affirmative and negative forms of 'should have done' correctly.
- Distinguish when to say 'should have' (something I ought to have done) and 'shouldn't have' (something I ought not to have done).
- Understand the dialogue between Tony and Jessie and answer questions about it.
- Use the structure in your own sentences about real-life situations.
Lesson vocabulary
- should have done I should have watched the news last night.
- shouldn't have done I shouldn't have eaten so much chocolate.
- reserved a table We should have reserved a table at the restaurant.
- native village Tony took Jessie to his native village.
- get away from It's good to get away from the dirt and the noise of the city.
- dirt and noise Sometimes I'm sick and tired of the dirt and noise of city life.
- traffic jams City life means crowded streets and traffic jams.
- sick and tired of Sometimes I'm sick and tired of city life.
- miss the things you've lost You get one thing and you miss the things you've lost.
- cottage in the country Tony is thinking of buying a cottage somewhere in the country.
- recovery period I should have asked how long the recovery period would be.
- potential risks I should have asked more questions about the potential risks after the operation.
- alternatives to surgery I should have discussed if there hadn't been alternatives to surgery.
- impatient I was impatient yesterday. I shouldn't have been impatient.
- application form I sent my application form too late. I shouldn't have sent it so late.
In other languages: Български