Why does he use “have invited”? Why not say “should we invite her for lunch”?
Native speaker’s answer
Rebecca
"Should have" is used to talk about past events: events that didn't happen but those which we wish or want to have happened, or to question whether an event should have occurred. In this case, the speaker is asking his friend if it would have been the right thing to invite her to lunch after all, meaning that the event has already occurred and they did not invite her to lunch. If the event had not occurred already, "should we" without "have" can be used here. Ex: Should I have left my house sooner? => has already left the house, now wondering if past action was wrong Ex: Should I leave my house sooner? => has not left the house yet Ex: Should I have apologized to her? => did not apologize, wondering if should have in past Ex: Should I apologize to her? => event has not finished yet, still has the opportunity to apologize
