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It should not have been like this.
What would be the correct translation for the above English sentence to German? The sense here is that you find yourself in an awkward or rather miserable situation and then you talk to yourself and say that “it should not have been like this”.
I have come up with the following but I am afraid I may be utterly wrong,
Es sollte nicht so gewesen haben.
Es hätte nicht so sein sollten.
Idiomatically I'd probably say either:
Das war [aber] nicht so vorgesehen/gedacht.
or, slightly different nuance:
Das habe ich mir [aber] [irgendwie] anders vorgestellt.
I as a german would say:
Es hätte nicht so sein sollen.
or in another WO:
Es hätte so nicht sein sollen.
Two proposals (both more in the colloquial style, but for a conversation with oneself, that should be fine)
Das hätte ganz anders laufen sollen
Das ging ja
- ordentlich daneben
- in die Hose
- nach hinten los
