Shoulda Woulda Coulda??

[cheri]

Can anyone explain the difference between should have, would have, and could have in Korean? Even in English, sometimes they are interchangeable, don't you think?

For example, how would you translate the following?

If I had known you were going to come home early, I would have cooked dinner...
If I had known you were going to come home early, I could have cooked dinner...
I should have cooked dinner... but I didn't know you were going to come home early / if only I had known you were going to come home early.

I'm just trying to logically organize grammar patterns in my head... maybe I'm over-thinking it though. ^^

[yhenry]

Can anyone explain the difference between should have, would have, and could have in Korean? Even in English, sometimes they are interchangeable, don't you think?

For example, how would you translate the following?

We have trouble translating or using such auxiliary verb mainly because we don't have exact copy of them in Korean.
Sure we have some but like you said, they are interchangeable, making only a subtle differences meaning still the same.

You got only 3 words to jiggle and giggle around, but, as you should have already realized, we have numerous suffixes to jiggle and giggle around, ㅋㅋㅋㅋ, like that.

I try what I think is close to each example. I mean I would or could say that way but not should say that way because I don't know what the textbook says about that.

If I (나) had known (알다) you (네/니) were going to come (오다) home (집) early (일찍), I (나) would have cooked dinner (저녁하다) earlier (더 일찍).
(Here, I used the base word before conjugation to show how the words are conjugated for those confused KSL students)

나는 네/니가 일찍 올 줄 알*았었다*면 나는 저녁을 더 일찍 했/하였을거야.
나는 네/니가 일찍 올 줄 알*았다*면 나는 저녁을 더 일찍 했*었*을거야.

알*았다; closed present participle
알*았*었*다 ; closed to past participle because past suffix 었 is added.

To us, the two examples makes no difference even though I tried to use past and present participle in different order.

Now I know why I have trouble dealing with the subjunctive mood in English because Korean subjunctive mood doesn't work exactly like English, like 'had known', past participle, in the conditional clause and 'would have cooked', present participle, in the main clause.
We don't have that order.
What count is the LAST verb and its mood or tense.

If I had known you were going to come home early, I could have cooked dinner...
나는 네/니가 일찍 올 줄 알*았다*면 나는 저녁을 더 일찍 할 수 있*었*을*거*야/다.

For 'could' we use '수' like 할 수 있다 can do.
So, since 'could' is for past tense, we add '었' to the root word, like 할 수 있었다.

I should have cooked dinner... but I didn't know you were going to come home early
For 'should', we use 해야 하다

나는 저녁을 했어야 했는데... 나는 니가 일찍 올 줄 몰랐어(모르다;알지 못하다)

if only I had known you were going to come home early. 다만 니가 일찍 올지/줄 알았다면...

I'm just trying to logically organize grammar patterns in my head... maybe I'm over-thinking it though. ^^

Suffix use is the key.
It does the jiggling in Korean word circus, and giggling, ㅋㅋㅋ, if not gagging, 캑 캑 캑.

[cheri]

Thanks so much! I think it will just take time and practice in understanding the subtle differences (or realizing that there really are none in certain cases). I really appreciate your help and explanation.