📖LearnModule 11 · Lesson 12 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C1, first halfUnit 3 · La hipótesis y el arrepentimiento
Debería haber… — el arrepentimiento y el reproche
Module 11 of the free Spanish course (CEFR C1, first half), lesson 12 of 30: Three shapes carry almost all regret. On this page: 9 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's QR.
The words
Spanish
English
Say it
deberíamos haber llamado
we should have called
deh-beh-REE-ah-mohs ah-BEHR yah-MAH-doh
podrías haber esperado
you could have waited
poh-DREE-ahs ah-BEHR ehs-peh-RAH-doh
tendría que haber avisado
I ought to have let them know
tehn-DREE-ah keh ah-BEHR ah-bee-SAH-doh
tú me lo habrías dicho
you would have told me
too meh loh ah-BREE-ahs DEE-choh
el reproche
the reproach
ehl rreh-PROH-cheh
el arrepentimiento
the regret
ehl ah-rreh-pehn-tee-MYEHN-toh
lamentar
to regret (formal)
lah-mehn-TAR
yo habría hecho lo mismo
I would have done the same
yoh ah-BREE-ah EH-choh loh MEES-moh
ellos habrían dicho que no
they would have said no
EH-yohs ah-BREE-ahn DEE-choh keh noh
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
La regla · The rule
Three shapes carry almost all regret. Debería haber llamado (I should have called). Podría haber esperado (I could have waited). Tendría que haber avisado (I ought to have let them know). And with the condicional compuesto: lo habría hecho de otro modo.
Y también · And also
Turned outward it becomes reproach — me lo habrías dicho, podrías habérmelo dicho — so the tone matters as much as the tense. Softened with quizá (quizá deberías haber esperado), it stays friendly.
Ojo · Watch out
debería haber + participle, never debería de haber in careful writing: debería haber llamado. The pronouns attach to haber and it takes an accent: podrías habérmelo dicho.
yo habría hecho · tú habrías hecho · él/ella/usted habría hecho · nosotros habríamos hecho · ustedes habrían hecho · ellos/ellas habrían hecho
Do it now — on paper
Say all 9 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with deberíamos haber llamado.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write out decir, condicional compuesto and hacer, condicional compuesto in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The Spanish Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.