debería haber comprado y hubiera comprado

Question

I know this has been discussed, I've read the threads and am still not clear. Los debería haber comprado desde la semana pasada. I translate that as : I should have bought them last week. But then, in another learning site, it is written as: Los hubiera comprado desde la semana pasada. Are these two terms interchangeable? Or is there some distinction that I am not seeing?

Answer 1

Isn't "I would have bought them" normally said as "Los habría comprado"?

Yes. - Gekkosan, Mar 22, 2011

Si hubiera.... entonces habría..... Ejemplo: Si hubiera comprado el paraguas, no me habría mojado. If I had bought an umbrella, I would´n wet myself - LuisCache, Mar 22, 2011

"Wet myself" is more like orinarse in English; you meant "wouldn't have gotten wet" (American English). - lorenzo9, Mar 22, 2011

Answer 2

However, "If there had been umbrellas in the store, I would have bought one.

Si hubiera habido paraguas en la tienda, me habría (hubiera) comprado uno.

De acuerdo. Aunque se usa mucho "me hubiera comprado uno", en este caso lo correcto es "me habría comprado uno". - LuisCache, Mar 22, 2011

Para que veas tanto lo común que es, ni sabía que no era correcto - 005faa61, Mar 22, 2011

Answer 3

"Debería" is always "should (have)".

"Los hubiera comprado" really means "I would have bough them" Depending on context, it could mean "I should"; but it only works within a certain given context. For example:

"Fui a la tienda y se habían acabado todos los toldos. ¡Los hubiera comprado la semana pasada!" - "I went to the store and all the umbrellas were gone. I should have / I wish I had bought them last week!"

Otherwise, if you wish to say "should have", you're generally safe with "debería".