Could have versus could of

[Trendyname]

Could have done.✔️
could of done. Incorrect

Explanation:

Could = ability in past. Being able to in a time which is past now.

Could have = something that was possible in past.

have is followed by past participle

Past participle is what we write after have in sentences. Eg done, eaten, bought.

could have + finished
could have + gone
could have + written
could have + done

Easier way to remember is:

The ‘have done’ after could is similar to when we use ‘have done’ in a sentence like
‘I have done all my tasks for today’
or ‘ I have finished all my tasks for today’

You ‘could have picked’ some vegetables on your way home.

We never say ‘ I of done my tasks for today’ or ‘ I of finished my work’

‘Would have’ has a similar structure in the sentence, the meaning is different. I think we all know the meaning but some of us use structure wrongly.

Would have ✔️

Would of incorrect

Maybe I am AIBU to post here, but I see so many people use it incorrectly here. English is my second language, so if you find any mistakes, please go ahead and correct.

Britons.
One t.

It depends. If your work has nothing to do with literacy, communication or precision in language then possibly not. But as a pp says, some people lack the literacy skills for the job they’re doing.

Good literacy is a bit like good general knowledge- not an indicator of intelligence but surely the corollary? Language is like any tool. It’s possible to use it approximately in most situations, but much better and a lot more satisfying and effective to actually get it right!

While we’re here, don’t use ‘lead’ as a past tense. It's ‘led’.

I see it all the time even in print and never used to.

Yep, and also "off of" drives me mad!

eg.
The cat was taken off of me.
She took the dress off of the rail.
I wiped the cream off of my face.

It's just everywhere, even in films. So scriptwriters must be actually writing it in.

I think that’s a borrowing from the US and it grates on me too when used by Brits. Similarly, ‘outside of’.

I don’t mind ACTUAL Americans saying this, and also ‘gotten’ (17th century English, as used by Shakespeare which has survived in the US), but it’s pretentious when used by British people.

I share your pain!

It does my head in too. In one of my Facebook groups a guy puts it all the time. A few people have corrected him but he ignores them and still does it. Another is aloud for allowed. ' I wasn't aloud to do that when there' for example.

Exactly. It’s people transcribing what they think they’re hearing, because they don’t have much or any correct standard English written sources in their day to day lives — their point of contact with the written word is online chat or WhatsApps from equivalently semi-literate friends. See also ‘rest bite’, ‘Chester draws’ etc. And ‘defiantly’, which appears to have originated as an autocorrect of a spelling mistake. People spelling ‘definitely’ as ‘definately’ got autocorrected to ‘defiantly’. Now, alas, many people appear to think ‘definitely’ is spelled ‘defiantly’.

It's the use of "generally" instead of "genuinely" for me. Yes I know they sound and look familiar but come on, so do Dog and Dug but you manage not to say "I'm taking my dug for a walk".

Rightly or wrongly, I just assume that person isn't very bright.

@marshmallowfinder

They might actually realise they've been saying and writing it incorrectly and stop doing it. To save them from looking and sounding like a dick in the future? It's nothing to do with the poster trying to show their 'intelligence.' It's basic English and pretty easy to change when it's explained to you.

People with poor spelling and grammar aren’t going to have a sudden epiphany because someone on Mumsnet has pointed this out. They either know but don’t care, they struggle with spelling and grammar or they haven’t been taught.

Look, I find it unforgivable when this happens in official communication. But it really irritates me when the grammar police crawl all over Mumsnet threads looking for examples.

This is an informal discussion board designed for people to discuss their thoughts and concerns in a relaxed manner, not a press release from the Home Office. Anyone who claims they couldn’t understand a post because someone said “could of” instead of “could have” is lying. Its just an excuse for a bit of petty linguistic oneupmanship.

That's accent not grammar.

You think that’s bad?

My teen DS was complaining yesterday that one of his teachers doesn’t know the difference between THERE, THEIR and THEY’RE and keeps using them in the wrong context. 🙈

YANBU.

My inner pedant regularly screams "Go on then, conjugate the verb "to of"!"

It sets my teeth on edge.

Check annoys me no end when used by a Brit, it's CHEQUE and CHEQUEBOOK.

I agree.

Exactly:

'I of been to the shop' until this becomes acceptable (never) no-one can claim
'I could of ...' is a development of the language.
I deliberately avoided any discussion of been/gone.

Yes - and may reflect the pronunciation of English used by early settlers in America, rather like the way Americans sound ‘rs’ in words where this doesn’t happen now in standard English (but it does in some dialects, such as West Country).

I think so much of this is a result of people reading standard English text far less than in the past. For many people the only reading they’ll do will be texts from other people whose English is also rather limited and the result is a downward spiral.

People don't read. They don't read books or newspapers, all they read is the internet, so mistakes like this continue.

I inwardly scream at 'ect' and the wrong form of discrete/discreet used. If people read more books they would pick this kind of thing up without having to be taught.

As PPs have said- dyslexia and other learning difficulties impact spelling, as does lack of education obviously.

Another factor might be that people don’t read as much as they used to (reading social media doesn’t count because much of it is spelt incorrectly!) When I was at school, and when I was a teacher, the children who read the most books were usually the best at spelling. When you have seen things written multiple times, you can make that connection in your brain to the thing that you’re hearing/saying. Many of these people will have heard ‘could’ve’ almost daily in their lives but have never read the words ‘could have’ in a book.

Crossed posts- sorry @Vroomfondleswaistcoat- I didn’t see your post! Yes, lack of reading is a huge factor.

“Hey you, get off of my cloud”

Maybe illiterate pop songs are also partly to blame for poor literacy!

The pub where DD worked had a sign on the ladies loo saying “No dogs aloud” so presumably they were allowed in as long as they didn’t bark! 🙂

On the subject of dogs:

…but you manage not to say "I'm taking my dug for a walk".

They do say that where I come from in Scotland!

Exactly, it’s like when people put posts on facebook asking people not to do stuff, not to drive a certain way etc.. the only people paying attention are the ones who don’t do it anyway.
People who write things like this won’t change.

@Trendyname "Maybe I am AIBU "

The I am is redundant here because AIBU stands for am I, so you have written Maybe I am am I being unreasonable, which is kind of meaningless.

A bit like PIN number or VIM melting