Hello, everyone, and welcome back to my channel, Sparkle
English, where I teach you how to improve your level of
English. In today's lesson, I'm going to teach you about
three more common English errors. We're going to talk
about the past modal verbs could have, would have, and
should have, or is it could of, would of, should of?
You're going to learn the difference between these past
modal verbs and also which is correct. So the first common
mistake in English is do you write could have or could of,
and why do people make this mistake? Could have is
correct. Could of is incorrect. So this is a very
common error for both English native speakers and English
learners. And that's because when we speak in English, we
often pronounce could have, like could of. However, could
of is incorrect. Could have plus a past participle means
that something was possible in the past, but did not happen.
For example, I could have visited my friend in New York,
but I decided not to. So it was possible that I go to New
York, but I didn't. If you write it like this, I could of
visited my friend, that's incorrect, you have to write
could have. However, could have is the long form and the
short form or the contraction is could've. And you can hear
that could have sounds exactly like could of, which is why
there is so much confusion in what the correct spelling is.
So it's could have or could've, but could have must
always be spelled like this with an apostrophe 've. For
example, you could have called me. Jason could have invited
his friends to the party. Sometimes a native English
speaker might speak so quickly that it sounds like they're
saying coulda, but the only correct way to write it is
could have or could have. Okay, now let's talk about the
second common mistake, which is very similar to the first
common mistake: would of or would have, and again, would
have is correct. Would of is incorrect. So would have what
have plus the past participle is used to talk about
something you wanted to do, but didn't do. So it expresses
a past willingness or desire to do something. For example,
I would have gone to your party, but I was really ill.
So I wanted to go to your party, but I didn't go because
I was ill. That is correct, would have. If you write I
"would of" gone to your party, that is incorrect. And as we
saw with the first common mistake, would have is the
long form and the contraction is would've, which also sounds
like would of which is why this is a common mistake. For
example, we would have gone swimming if it had been
warmer. My friends would have come, but they had already
made plans. So again, when you are speaking in English, it
will sound like would of. However, it is written like
would've or would have and as we saw with the previous
example, sometimes native English speakers speak so
quickly that it will sound like "woulda." We would have
gone
swimming if it had been warmer. But again the only
correct way to write this is would have or would've. And
the final common mistake is should of or should have. And
as you can guess, should have is correct and should of is
incorrect. So we use should have plus the past participle
to talk about past regrets or past mistakes. For example, I
should have given Robert a chance. He was a great guy.
This is correct. Should have. If we say I should of given
Robert a chance, this is incorrect. The contraction is
should've, which again also sounds like should of. Some
more examples... you should have let me know you were at
your friend's house. I was worried. She should have
thanked you for the wedding gift. And as we saw with our
previous examples, sometimes you will hear people speak so
quickly that it sounds like they're saying "shoulda." You
should've let me know you were at your friend's house. And
this same error can happen as well with must have, which
people often write must of, but again it has to be written
as must have or must've. Okay, so now we're going to do a
quiz, and you have to fill in the blanks with could have,
should have, or would have. So number one... you ________
gone to bed earlier. You have to use the past model that we
use for past advice or regret. Number two, we ________
traveled to Greece, but decided to go to Italy
instead. This time use a past model that represents past
possibility. Number three, I ________ called you, but my
phone battery died. This one use a model verb that
represents past willingness. Number four. Lauren ________
dated anyone, but she chose Paul. Here, use a model verb
that represents past possibility. Finally, number
five, I ________ studied harder for my Spanish exam.
And this time use a past model verb that represents past
regret. Okay, so let's correct these together. Number one,
you should have gone to bed earlier. Remember we use
should have to express past advice or regret. Number two,
we could have traveled to Greece, but we decided to go
to Italy instead. Could have we use for past possibility.
Number three, I would have called you but my phone
battery died. Remember we use would have for past
willingness, something we wanted to do, but didn't.
Number four, Lauren could have dated anyone, but she chose
Paul. Again, could have is used for past possibility. And
finally number five, I should have studied harder for my
Spanish exam, which is me expressing past regret. Okay,
so that is it for my quiz on the difference between could
have, should have, or would have. Let me know in the
comments section how many you got correct out of five. And
if you had any difficulty with this lesson. Thank you guys
once again for watching, and I will see you in my next lesson.