should/should have

English grammar questions, answered by Alan

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navitasan
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should/should have

Post by navitasan »

Which is correct:

1) That crash was caused by a stupid error. The passengers of that plane died needlessly They should have been alive now.
2) That crash was caused by a stupid error. The passengers of that plane died needlessly They should be alive now.


Gratefully,
Navi
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Alan
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Re: should/should have

Post by Alan »

The first is nonsense.

The second is possible but ambiguous, since it could be interpreted as indicating an expectation relating to the present (contextually absurd). To indicate the obviously intended meaning, we would say rather "they should never have died/needed to die".
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