2025-07-09 用 “should have” 和 “could have” 表达 “原本应该做某事” 时的区别 – 你问我答

内容简介

虽然都可以被用来表达 “原本应该做某事” 这个含义，“should have” 和 “could have” 在语气上并不相同。其中，“should have” 强调 “应该完成的事情没有完成”，带有强烈的指责意味；而 “could have” 表示 “原本能做到的事情却没有做”，暗示了错失机会的遗憾。听节目，跟主持人 Georgie 和步理学习如何使用表达 “should have” 和 “could have”。

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（关于台词的备注: 请注意这不是广播节目的逐字稿件。本文稿可能没有体现录制、编辑过程中对节目做出的改变。）

Buli
大家好，欢迎收听 BBC 英语教学的 “你问我答” 节目。I’m Buli.

Georgie
And I’m Georgie. We have a question here from one of our listeners.

Question
请问 “you should have told me” 和 “you could have told me” 在语气上有什么区别？它们好像都表达了失望或责备，但语气的强弱是否不同呢？

Georgie
Ah, a modal verb question – that is very useful. You’re right that in both sentences, the speaker is expressing disappointment about a past event and wishing it could be different.

Buli
没错，这是一个关于如何用 “modal verb（情态动词）” 表达不同语气的问题。问题中提到的这两个句子都可以用于责备某人 “你应该告诉我这件事，但你没有”。但其中不同的两个情态动词 “should” 和 “could” 让两个句子表达出的语气略有不同。让我们先从单词 “should” 说起。Georgie, what does ‘you should have told me’ mean?

Georgie
Well, ‘should have’ means that an action was the advisable thing to do, but it did not happen. So, ‘you should have told me’ is quite direct and critical, because the person did not do the advisable thing. There is a tone of blame. Let’s hear more examples.

Examples
You’re soaking wet! You should have brought an umbrella.
（你全身都湿透了！你出门时应该带上一把雨伞。）

You missed the train? Well, you should have left the house earlier.
（你没赶上火车？你应该早点出门。）

Buli
在上面的例句中，情态动词 “should” 都被用于暗示 “对方没有做一件原本应该做的事，甚至应该为自己的行为所导致的后果负责”，意思相当于 “原本应当……”。可以说，“should have” 表达的语气是相对强烈的，带有强烈的指责意味。我们还可以用 “should have” 来描述自身的行为，从而表达出 “对自己过去行为的懊悔和自责”。比如，我们可以说 “I failed my exams. I should’ve studied harder.（我考试没及格。我之前真应该用功学习。）”

Georgie
OK. Now let’s talk about ‘could have’. What does ‘You could have told me’ mean? 

Buli
相对于 “should”，单词 “could” 的语气更加缓和。它暗示的是 “原本可能或能够做某事，但最终没有做”，相当于 “原本可以……”。所以，“you could have told me” 指的是 “你原本可以告诉我这件事，但你没有告诉我”。 

Georgie
The tone of this is still disappointed, but it’s a little softer than ‘should have’. There is less blame and it’s more about a missed opportunity. Let’s hear some examples.

Examples
You were locked out of the house? You could have used the spare key under the mat.
（你被锁在家门外了？其实你可以用地垫下面的备用钥匙开门进去。）

You got amazing grades. You could have got into any university you wanted.
（你当初的成绩太好了。其实你可以去你想去的任何一所大学。）

Buli
接下来让我们用问题中的两个表达来造句，从而在语境中理解它们语气上的差异。在第一组例句中，你会听到 “should have told” 这个表达。试着体会其中指责和批评的态度与第二组例句的不同。

Examples
You should have told me that his party was a surprise! I would have kept it a secret!
（你应该告诉我他的聚会是一个惊喜！这样的话我就会保密了！）

You should have told me you were running late – I was waiting for you for ages!
（你应该告诉我你会迟到——我等了你好久！）

Georgie
Whereas, in the next examples with ‘could have told’, there is a sense of a missed opportunity.

Examples
You could have told me you were feeling sad. I would have listened to you.
（你可以告诉我你感觉很难过，我肯定会听你倾诉。） 

Oh, you could have told me you didn’t like pasta. I would have made something else for dinner!
（你要是告诉我你不爱吃意大利面就好了，那样的话我晚餐就做点别的了。）

Georgie
It’s worth mentioning that in spoken English we usually say ‘should have’ and ‘could have’ in their contracted forms. So you’re likely to hear ‘should’ve’ and ‘could’ve’.

Buli
最后让我们来复习一下。“Should have” 和 “could have” 都能用于表达 “失望、后悔或遗憾于没有在过去完成某个动作”。它们之间的区别在于，情态动词 “should” 通常暗示 “应当做某事”，所以 “should have” 表示 “原本应该做的事却没有完成”，带有责备和批评的意味；而情态动词 “could” 则暗示 “能够或可以做某事”，所以 “could have” 表示 “原本可能或能够做到某事却没有完成”，带有错失了一次机会的遗憾。

Georgie
Remember, if you have a question that you’d like us to answer, you can email us too at questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk

Buli
你也可以通过微博向我们提问。我们的微博账号是 “BBC英语教学”。Bye everyone!

Georgie
Bye!