También tendría que haber escuchado a mi madre cuando me dijo que descansara.

Tendría que haber escuchado is a way to express past obligation, regret, or criticism about something that did not happen.

It is built like this:

• tendría que = would have to / should
• haber escuchado = have listened

So together, tendría que haber escuchado means something like:

• I should have listened
• I ought to have listened

Compared with other options:

• escuché = I listened
  This just states a fact.
• debí escuchar can also mean I should have listened, but depending on context it can sometimes sound more ambiguous or literary to learners.
• tenía que escuchar = I had to listen
  This sounds more like a real obligation in the past, not necessarily regret.
• tendría que haber escuchado strongly suggests looking back and thinking it would have been better if I had listened.

Haber escuchado is the perfect infinitive.

Structure:

• haber
  • past participle
• here: haber escuchado

It refers to an action that should have happened before the moment of reflection.

So:

• tendría que escuchar = I should listen / would have to listen
• tendría que haber escuchado = I should have listened

The perfect infinitive is very common after expressions like:

• debería haber...
• tendría que haber...
• podría haber...
• me gustaría haber...

This is the personal a.

In Spanish, when the direct object is a specific person (or sometimes a pet or personified being), you normally use a.

So:

• escuchar a mi madre
• ver a Juan
• conozco a tu hermana

But:

• escuchar la radio
• ver la película

Here, mi madre is a specific person, so Spanish requires a.

Usually escuchar means to listen to, or to pay attention to what someone says.

In this sentence, escuchar a mi madre is best understood as:

• listen to my mother
• possibly pay attention to my mother

Compare:

• oír = to hear
  more about perceiving sound
• escuchar = to listen
  more active and intentional

So debería haber escuchado a mi madre means not just hearing her words, but taking them seriously.

Me dijo is the preterite of decir, and it presents the action as a completed event.

• me dijo = she told me
• me decía = she was telling me / used to tell me

In this sentence, the speaker refers to a specific moment when the mother said something:

• cuando me dijo... = when she told me...

If you said cuando me decía..., it would suggest a repeated or ongoing situation, for example:

• Siempre me decía que descansara.
  She was always telling me to rest.

So me dijo fits better if the sentence is about one particular occasion.

Descansara is the imperfect subjunctive of descansar.

It appears because after a past verb like dijo, Spanish often uses the subjunctive when reporting a command, request, or recommendation with que.

Pattern:

• me dijo que + subjunctive

So:

• Me dijo que descansara. = She told me to rest.

This is not a normal statement like she said that I rested. It is more like an instruction or recommendation.

Why not the others?

• descansé = I rested
  This is indicative and changes the meaning completely.
• descansara yo is grammatically possible, but the subject yo is normally omitted unless you want emphasis or contrast.

That is a very common question, because decir can work in different ways.

If decir introduces information or reported speech, Spanish often uses the indicative:

• Me dijo que estaba cansada.
  She told me she was tired.

But if decir means to tell someone to do something, then Spanish uses:

• decir + indirect object + que + subjunctive

So:

• Me dijo que descansara.
  She told me to rest.

Here, the mother is not simply giving information. She is giving advice, an instruction, or a recommendation. That is why the subjunctive is used.

This is due to the sequence of tenses.

The main verb is in the past:

• me dijo

So the subordinate subjunctive verb normally also shifts into a past subjunctive form:

• descansara or descansase

Compare:

• Me dice que descanse.
  Present main verb → present subjunctive
• Me dijo que descansara.
  Past main verb → imperfect subjunctive

So descanse would not fit well here because the reporting verb is in the past.

Yes. Descansara and descansase are both correct forms of the imperfect subjunctive.

So these both work:

• Me dijo que descansara.
• Me dijo que descansase.

In modern everyday Spanish, -ra forms are generally more common:

• hablara
• comiera
• viviera

The -se forms are also correct and are heard in Spain, sometimes sounding a little more formal, literary, or stylistically marked depending on the speaker and region.

También means also or too.

It shows that this idea is being added to something said before. For example, the speaker may already have mentioned another mistake or regret, and now adds this one:

• I also should have listened to my mother...

Its position here is very natural:

• También tendría que haber escuchado...

You could sometimes move también in Spanish, but where you put it can slightly affect emphasis.

Yes. Debería haber escuchado a mi madre is also very natural.

Both forms can mean I should have listened to my mother.

A rough comparison:

• debería haber escuchado = very direct should have
• tendría que haber escuchado = also should have, sometimes with a shade of would have had to / really ought to have

In many real contexts, they are very close and both are acceptable.

Cuando means when, and it introduces the time at which the mother spoke:

• cuando me dijo... = when she told me...

It links the regret to that particular moment.

Compare:

• cuando me dijo que descansara = when she told me to rest
• lo que me dijo = what she told me

So cuando focuses on the moment, while lo que would focus on the content.

Yes, some parts can move, although the original order is very natural.

For example:

• También tendría que haber escuchado a mi madre...
• Tendría que haber escuchado también a mi madre...

These do not always emphasize exactly the same thing.

The original sentence sounds neutral and smooth. Moving también can shift the focus:

• También tendría que... = also, I should have...
• ...escuchado también a mi madre = suggests my mother too, maybe alongside other people

So the best version depends on what is being emphasized.

Both are possible, but they feel slightly different.

• mi madre = neutral, standard
• mamá = more personal, intimate, conversational

So you could say:

• También tendría que haber escuchado a mi madre...
• También tendría que haber escuchado a mamá...

Both are correct. The choice depends on tone and style. Mi madre sounds a bit more neutral or reflective, while mamá can sound warmer and more personal.