Kilo Lingo
French grammar Part of Chapter 28

CEFR B2

4 min read

Test yourself (18 questions)

Should Have in French: j'aurais dû, tu aurais pu

By Michael McGettrickUpdated 12 October 2026

Should have in French is plus an infinitive; could have is plus an infinitive. The tense goes on or , and the second verb never moves.

the verb that carries the tensethe infinitive, unchangedWhat do the colours mean?
PatternFrenchEnglish
should have I should have left
shouldn't have I shouldn't have left
could have I could have left
nobody named we should have left
the better choice I'd have done better to leave

Quick check

Now use it: three quick questions on the chart above. The full practice is further down.

Spot the mistake

0/3

Tap the mistake.

All of these are the conditional perfect of a modal verb. This is one of the tense's commonest jobs, and the one learners most often get wrong.

The tense goes on devoir

the verb that carries the tensethe infinitive, unchangedWhat do the colours mean?

English says should have left and puts a participle at the end. French conjugates only and leaves the main verb as a plain infinitive.

Subject
Cond. of avoir
dû / pu
Infinitive
J’
  • . - I should have left earlier.
  • . - You could have told me.
  • . - She should have paid attention.

always takes , even when the infinitive after it would take on its own:

  • . - I should have come. Never je serais dû venir.

Learn the block whole and hang any infinitive off it:

Subjectshould havecould have
/
/

Dû or pu: duty or chance

the verb that carries the tensethe infinitive, unchangedWhat do the colours mean?

The pair splits exactly as and always split.

MeaningFrenchEnglish
right, not done .I should have left.
an option .I could have left.
you had a duty .You should have told me.
you had a chance .You could have told me.

often stings more than : it does not argue about duty, it just removes the excuse. It is the phrase for small everyday failures, the message never sent, the door not held.

The person turns regret into reproach

the verb that carries the tensethe infinitive, unchangedWhat do the colours mean?

Nothing changes but the subject, and the social meaning turns over.

SubjectFrenchEnglish
.I should have been careful. (I'm sorry)
.You should have been careful. (telling off)
.He should have been careful. (judgement)
on .We should have been careful. (shared)

spreads the fault across the room: the mistake is named, and nobody in particular owns it.

Il aurait fallu: nobody to blame

the verb that carries the tensethe infinitive, unchangedque + subjunctiveWhat do the colours mean?

is impersonal, so (it would have been necessary) names nobody at all.

  • . - We should have left earlier.
  • . - Somebody should have warned him.
  • . - We should have booked.

One thought, three levels of blame:

Nobody blamedYou blamed
  1. Il aurait fallu partir plus tôt.it was necessary
  2. On aurait dû partir plus tôt.all of us
  3. Tu aurais dû partir plus tôt.you

Name a subject and takes plus a subjunctive, as does on the infinitive or subjunctive page:

  • . - You should have left earlier.

At that point it stops being diplomatic.

J'aurais mieux fait de: the better choice

the verb that carries the tensethe infinitive, unchangedWhat do the colours mean?

means to do better to. In the conditional perfect it says another choice would have been the right one.

  • . - I would have done better to stay.
  • . - You would have done better to keep quiet.
  • . - We would have done better to take the train.

The linker is , never . Where says an action was missed, this one names the better alternative, which makes it the phrase for a decision you regret.

Its impersonal twin is :

  • . - It would have been better to wait.

Tu n'aurais pas dû: reproach or thank-you

the verb that carries the tensethe infinitive, unchangedWhat do the colours mean?

The negative wraps the auxiliary, as in any compound tense: , .

  • . - You shouldn't have said that to him. (a reproach)
  • . - She should never have accepted.
  • , ! - Oh, you shouldn't have! (unwrapping a present: a thank-you)

Only tone and moment tell the first and the last apart. Have the thank-you ready: being handed a gift and saying nothing is worse than saying something slightly wrong.

Mistakes English speakers make

WrongRightWhy
the second verb stays infinitive
always takes
, , is ought to, now
: subjunctive

What to do next

  1. Say one thing you should have done last week, with .
  2. Say it again as a reproach to a friend, with .
  3. Then turn it into a decision you regret, with .

Practise: test yourself

Put the words in order

0/3

Put the words in order. The tense goes on devoir, pouvoir or falloir; the second verb stays an infinitive.

  1. I should have left earlier.

    Your sentence is empty.

  2. You could have told me.

    Your sentence is empty.

  3. We should have booked. (nobody named)

    Your sentence is empty.

Sort into groups

0/6

Who takes the blame in each sentence?

Tap a word, then the group it belongs in.

Spot the mistake

0/4

Tap the mistake.

Pick the right one

0/5

Read the English, then choose the French that says it.

  1. You could have told me.

  2. You should have told me.

  3. I should have left yesterday.

  4. I would have left.

  5. Oh, you shouldn't have! (unwrapping a present)

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Frequently asked questions

How do you say 'I should have left' in French?
. The tense goes on , which becomes the conditional perfect , and the verb that says what you should have done stays an infinitive. Two classic learner errors conjugate the second verb instead, giving , or borrow its auxiliary, giving . Neither is French. takes whatever follows it: .
What is the difference between and ?
Duty against chance, as with and in any tense. means I should have left, and admits I was wrong not to. means I could have left: the option existed. Aimed at someone else, me says you had a duty to tell me, while me says you had every chance, which often stings more because it removes the excuse.
How does French tell a regret from a reproach?
In the grammar, by the subject alone. is a regret about myself. is a reproach aimed at you. is a judgement on somebody , and on spreads the blame across everyone. The construction never changes; only the subject pronoun does.
What does mean?
It is the impersonal version: it would have been necessary, we should have. (we should have left earlier), (we should have booked). Because names nobody, it is the diplomatic choice when you want a mistake named but not owned. With a named subject it takes and a subjunctive, , and at that point it stops being diplomatic.
Does always mean somebody did wrong?
No. Said on its own while unwrapping a present, oh, ! is the polite protest, exactly like English you shouldn't have. In any other setting the same words are a straight reproach: (you shouldn't have said that to him). Tone and moment carry the whole difference; the grammar is identical.