Modals of regret

Do you have any regrets?no-regrets

Use these modals to talk about your regrets:

  • SHOULD + HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE

I should have listened to my parents more when I was a teenager.  (I didn’t listen to my parents. Now I’m a poor artist who can’t pay the bills.)

  • COULD + HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE

I could have chosen a different career. (I didn’t like my parents’ suggestions and chose to go to art school.)

  • WOULD + HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE

I wish I had listened to my parents. I would have been a rich doctor now. (Unfortunately, I’m just a poor artist and nobody knows my name.)