FR: more expensive than it should have been

[El_E]

How to express "~ than it should have (been)"? For example, "It was more expensive than it should have been/it cost more than shuold have"
Google translate gives "C'était plus cher qu'il n'aurait dû l'être", but I don't understand the negative or the "l'" before "être". Other sources give "qu'il aurait dû être", which makes more sense to me. So I'd like to check what's the correct expression. Thank you.

 

[Maître Capello]

Hello El_E and welcome to the forums!

The ne is expletive, i.e., it is not a negation and may be dropped. The le is a pronoun referring to the phrase être cher.

Anyway, this question has already been discussed many times before. For more details, let me refer you to the following thread:

FR: <comparatif> (plus, moins, aussi, etc.) que + (ne) (le) - pronom & "ne" explétif

This thread is therefore closed to prevent duplication. Don't forget to look for existing threads before opening a new one (see our posting guidelines.

Thank you for your understanding.

Maître Capello
Moderator