Past Reproaches
When sharing a flat with roommates, you might need to criticize things they did or failed to do. To express unfulfilled obligations ("should have") or missed opportunities ("could have"), use the conditional forms of deber or poder, followed by the infinitive haber and a past participle.
| Subject | Deber (should) | Poder (could) |
|---|---|---|
| yo | debería | podría |
| tú | deberías | podrías |
| él / ella / usted | debería | podría |
| nosotros / nosotras | deberíamos | podríamos |
| vosotros / vosotras | deberíais | podríais |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | deberían | podrían |
Use podría haber to point out what someone could have done differently:
| You could have been tidier and more considerate today. | Podrías haber sido más ordenada y considerada hoy. |
Use debería haber to state what someone definitely should have done:
| You should have emptied the bin, you are very irresponsible. | Deberías haber vaciado la papelera, eres muy irresponsable. |
| They should have done their domestic chores yesterday. | Deberían haber hecho sus tareas domésticas ayer. |
To make a negative reproach ("should not have"), place no immediately before the conjugated verb:
| You shouldn't have wasted all the detergent. | No deberías haber derrochado todo el detergente. |
As always, conjugate the first verb to match your subject, whether you are addressing one roommate or several:
| You could have taken the clothes off the drying rack; besides, you are not very tidy. | Podríais haber quitado la ropa del tendedero; además, sois poco ordenadas. |
When using a reflexive verb with this structure, you can attach the reflexive pronoun directly to the end of the infinitive haber (forming words like haberme, haberte, or habernos):
| The problem is that we should have taken turns to sweep. | El problema es que deberíamos habernos turnado para barrer. |