English Speaking - Mistakes & Regrets ("I should have studied" etc.)

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Hello, my name is Ronnie and I'm going to teach you English.

Today we're going to talk about a mistake that you and I and everyone has made.

We're going to talk about a mistake that you've made in the past.

These are called regrets.

A regret is something you did or didn't do in the past.

Anytime in English you have the word "did" or "didn't" it's automatically in the past

Another way you can think of this very easily is a mistake.

I'd like you to think of a mistake that you made.

Making a regret is a major mistake.

For example, when I was in university, instead of studying, I went to the bar and I drank.

The next day, when it came time to write my test, I didn't know any of the answers.

So I didn't do too well on the test.

So I can say, "I regretted not studying."

The way that we use this in English is like so.

We say, "I'm so stupid, I should have studied."

I should have studied.

I failed my test, I should have studied.

We can also use the negative.

Now when we use words in English, sometimes we squish them together.

So instead of saying "should not," we make it shorter and we say "shouldn't."

You're still going to use "have."

So I told you that instead of studying, I went to the pub and I drank a couple of pints.

So I can say, "I shouldn't have gone to the pub."

So these two are both regrets.

One is "I should have done something," one is "I shouldn't have done it."

Now the trick and the pronunciation that we use when we talk about these in English is

a little different.

When you write it and if you ever have a test and it asks you for a regret, you must always

write "have" and this has to be the past participle of the verb.

In a short form, we always say "pp."

So if you hear me refer to a "pp," I don't have to go to the toilet, it just means the

past participle of the verb.

An example of this is "run" is the present, "ran" is the simple past, and the past participle

I like to call it the third part of the verb.

Another example is "go," "went," and then the past participle, "gone."

So when we're using regrets, we always have to use "have" plus the past participle of

Now for the pronunciation part.

I want you to listen to the way I say this.

For example, I would say "I should have studied" or "I shouldn't have gone to the bar" or "I

shouldn't have gone to the pub."

Did you hear what word I changed?

I should have studied.

I shouldn't have gone to the pub.

When we pronounce this, we actually don't say the "have," we change it to "of."

So natural English pronunciation, we use "I should have studied."

I shouldn't have gone to the bar.

So very important, remember when you're writing it, always write "have," but when we say it,

we always write "of," or sorry, we always say "of."

I should have said "of" instead of "have."

If you'd like to test your knowledge on this subject, go to www.engvid.com and you can

I have a regret.

I made a mistake.

I'm sure everyone makes mistakes, and this one, it's very fun and easy.

And when you make a mistake, it's very natural, so don't worry.

I make them all the time.

When I was teaching you the past participle, I should have said "run," "ran," "run."

I do apologize.

I know that learning the past participles is very difficult.

I've been speaking English for a long time now, and I still make mistakes.

So the only way that you're going to really learn and memorize the past participles is

practice and review, okay?

Usually you can get a textbook or just look on an internet site, and they will tell you

a list of the past participles.

So don't worry if you make a mistake.

They're natural.