To express regret or talk about missed opportunities in the past, Swedish uses borde ha (should have) and kunde ha (could have).
Should have (borde ha)
To say that someone should have done something, use borde ha followed by the supinum form of the verb (the form you normally use after har or hade).
| I should have read the catalogue before the auction. | Jag borde ha läst katalogen före auktionen. |
| You should have started bidding when the antique appeared. | Du borde ha börjat buda när antikviteten kom fram. |
Could have (kunde ha)
Similarly, to express that someone could have done something, use kunde ha followed by the supinum.
| We could have bought the beautiful item at the auction yesterday. | Vi kunde ha köpt det vackra objektet på auktionen igår. |
| I could have won if I had only bid over the starting price. | Jag kunde ha vunnit om jag bara budat över utropspriset. |
Auction regrets
When things happen fast, like at an auction, there are often missed chances. You can use both borde ha and kunde ha to describe what went wrong.
| I should have understood that one could have found a bargain on that item. | Jag borde ha förstått att man kunde ha fyndat det där objektet. |
| I could have bought the cabinet of wood if the gavel had not struck so fast. | Jag kunde ha köpt skåpet av trä om klubban inte slagit så fort. |
| I should have bid without hesitation. | Jag borde ha budat utan tvekan. |
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