1 What is the difference between these:
- I am surprised that he did it yesterday.
- I am surprised that he should do it yesterday.
- I am surprised that he should have done it yesterday.
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Sign up to join this communityThe first implies that I am sure that he actually did it yesterday.
The third implies that I have reason to think he did it, but I am not certain: perhaps I have heard that he did it.
The second does not seem natural to me, but I would take it to mean the same as the third.
This is a (comparatively rare) instance of English encoding evidentiality