could have couldn't have Hi, welcome to another video in the quick fix series.
Today you will learn about COULD HAVE and COULDN’T HAVE in English.
So, let’s get started.
So, could is a modal verb used to talk about past ability.
For example: I could sleep for 12 hours when I was a teenager.
This means that in the past, when I was a teenager, I was able to sleep for 12 hours.
This is past ability.
Whereas could + have + past participle
Is used to talk about past possibility.
For example:
I could have slept all night if the neighbours weren’t so noisy.
So, it would have been possible to sleep all night if the neighbours didn’t make so much noise.
This is past possibility.
So let’s look at when we use could have.
Firstly, for hypothetical past possibility
- things that were possible in the past but didn’t happen.
I could have gone to work but I decided to take the day off.
It was possible for me to go to work but it didn’t happen, I didn’t go.
I could have won the race but I fell over.
It was possible for me to win the race, but it didn’t happen, I didn’t win.
And here in the negative.
We have:
couldn't + have + past participle
and this is used to talk about hypothetical past impossibility.
Things that weren’t possible in the past but did happen.
For example:
I couldn’t have done it without your help.
In other words, it wasn’t possible for me to have done it without you, but it did happen.
Secondly, we use could have plus the past participle to say that someone had the ability or opportunity
to do something, but did not do it:
For example:
She could have learned Spanish, but she didn't want to.
She had the ability and or opportunity to learn Spanish but she didn’t do it.
She didn’t learn Spanish.
Or, I could have slept all day. [but I didn't]
I had the opportunity to sleep all day, but I didn’t do it. I didn’t sleep all day.
Thirdly, we also use could have to make guesses about the past, to speculate.
So for example: It's two o'clock. They could have arrived by now.
I don’t know if they have arrived, I am guessing and speculating about the past.
It is possible. It is speculation.
OR, Where are they? They could have got lost.
Again, I am guessing they have got lost. It is possible. It is speculation.
Finally, we use couldn't have (or can’t have) to say that a past event was impossible:
So for example, he knows the way. He couldn’t have got lost!
It is not possible that he has got lost and you are sure of this.
This is an impossible past event.
Or, if Steve was at work until six, he couldn't have done the murder.
It again is an impossible past event. It wasn’t possible for Steve to commit the murder
and we are sure of this.
Lastly a little note on a common mistake which is to write the word "of" instead of "have"
or the contraction 've:
So I could of told you that.
instead of:
I could have told you that.
or alternatively:
I could’ve told you that.
This is wrong and these 2 are right.
The reason for the mistake is that the pronunciation of have when it is unstressed is the same
as that of "of," and the two words are confused when it is spoken.
So when it comes to writing them down, sometimes people write "of" because it sounds like "of."
But remember it is not "of" but "have." Even though they sound the same.
So, that’s it for now. I hope you feel more confident using could have and couldn’t have in English.
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OK take care and see you very soon! Bye, bye!
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