Doesn't "Tu aurais vu" mean "You would have seen" and "Tu aurais dù voir mean you should have seen

John E.C1Kwiziq community member

Doesn't "Tu aurais vu" mean "You would have seen" and "Tu aurais dù voir mean you should have seen

Asked 2 years ago
Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

Yes, I agree with you. 

Alan G.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Normally, yes, but I think John is talking about this example from the lesson:

Tu aurais vu sa tête quand je suis apparu devant lui !

You should have seen his face when I appeared in front of him!

In this case, "should have" does not mean "you ought to have", so using devoir would be an anglicism. The meaning is more like "if you had seen his face!".  

In French, this could be either:

Si tu avais vu sa tête  or

Tu aurais vu sa tête (using the conditional instead of si)

John E. asked:

Doesn't "Tu aurais vu" mean "You would have seen" and "Tu aurais dù voir mean you should have seen

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