'would have' or 'would of'?

[DaintreeDream]

Please help me.

Is it:

'would have' or 'would of'

'should have' or 'should of'

As in 'it would ..... been great' or 'it should ..... been in Winter'

Does it depend on the sentence?

[Sibbie]

I think 'should/would have' is correct... seems to make more sense

[thepixie]

I'm pretty sure that it's always "would have" or "should have" and that 'would of'/ 'should of' aren't grammatically correct....

[lissy]

Yep 'would have or would've' or ' should have or should' ve'.

[briggsy's girl]

i'm pretty sure it's "have". the "of" just comes from our laziness in forming words when speaking. i can't think of any context off the top of my head where should of/would of makes sense

[MummaSue]

i'm pretty sure it's "have". the "of" just comes from our laziness in forming words when speaking. i can't think of any context off the top of my head where should of/would of makes sense

:yeahthat: Of is just the lazy version

[Tinks]

It's have! Never of! Or you can write should've or would've.

[PollyA]

I think its one of those strange language things, not necessarily laziness. If you say would've or should've outloud they really sound like would of and should of, and since language is taught verbally much more than written, its just been "adapted" over time.
In saying that, "of" isn't correct, The word should is an auxillary verb indictaing obligation to carry out the verb that follows. Of is not a verb and therefore "should of" just doesn't work gramatically
"Of" is a preposition not a verb.

On a completely different note, the words should and would are not very helpful in many ways. I spoke to counsellor the other day who works with young people dying of terminal illness, usually cancer. His colleague has a poster he gives to his clients which reads "I will not should myself today". Sometimes the "shoulds" expressed on the forum get me down too. Especially in terms of parenting which has a million different answers and rarely any definites with a couple of exceptions like "You should not put coke in a baby's bottle" Anyway very philosophical thism morning.

You should use have lol!

[Doing my best]

I think its one of those strange language things, not necessarily laziness. If you say would've or should've outloud they really sound like would of and should of, and since language is taught verbally much more than written, its just been "adapted" over time.

I am sorry, but I disagree with this. Yes, it is how it sounds when said verbally, but we should still be teaching the correct written grammer to our children (or peers who are learning English, or how to read/write etc). I don't think it has been adapted as a correct form of grammer.

[DaintreeDream]

Yep 'would have or would've' or ' should have or should' ve'.

Ohh that makes so much sense, for some reason this always gets me! Now that I have burnt the 've in my memory I should remember.

i'm pretty sure it's "have". the "of" just comes from our laziness in forming words when speaking. i can't think of any context off the top of my head where should of/would of makes sense

I had a feeling that the 'of' was from being lazy but as I said above, it always gets me so I refuse to type it at all

Thankyou!

[PollyA]

Hey Doing my best,
I totally agree, was editing my post as you posted to add that I thought the same, just trying to think about why it was such a commonly used incorrect phrase

[OceanPrincess]

There are a whole lot of incorrect things that are becoming common place and routinely accepted - agreeance is another. Totally incorrect but more people are using it and apparently that's all it takes to be accepted, eventually, as correct.

Makes me want to

[SunnyRain]

One of my many many pet peeves. When in doubt when it comes to language, try breaking it down logically.

Eg you can say:
I have been drinking all day...

So you would say:
I would have been drinking all day...

Not:
I of been drinking / I would of been drinking



Sent from my Desire HD

[Glamourcide]

One of my biggest bugbears! It's HAVE! Always have! Never OF! The others have explained it beautifully, and I will not tolerate this 'colloquial acceptance' of 'would/should of'. Never! I believe it comes from the sound of 'would've/should've' being pronounced, but there is NO reason we should not teach people the correct usage of the terms - this laziness in 'accepting' or adapting lazy speech, grammar and spelling is ridiculous. The English language is complex, but beautiful - surely we're smart enough to learn a few simple 'rules' to maintain our language, rather than resorting to incoherent speech and unintelligible writing for the sake of 'simplicity'.

[JLeigh29]

So glad to see there are people out there who do actually know the correct grammar! My other bugbear is the use of then for than when referring to quantity (as in, 'I ate more then you' or 'Mine is bigger then yours'). Grrrrrrrrrr.

I believe part of it is because there was such a push for the 'whole language' approach to literacy in the 80's (where children learned to read and write through immersion and would just 'pick it up' without the need to be constantly corrected or learn spelling and grammar rules) and we're seeing the results of it now. Gen X doesn't know the rules, and therefore we can't pass them onto to Gen Y. I had to learn basic grammar, spelling and punctuation rules when I went to uni (I learned about nouns and verbs from my year 11 French teacher!) as before then my knowledge of correct grammar was limited to whether it 'sounded right'. One of the biggest eye openers for me was with a student teacher I had a few years ago. She was assisting year 4 students with a grammar task when one asked her what a contraction was. Her answer? 'You tell me and we'll both know'.

On a positive note, we are seeing a renewed emphasis on 'functional grammar' in literacy teaching, so here's hoping we see an improvement in grammar in years to come.

[Aimz]

I am sorry, but I disagree with this. Yes, it is how it sounds when said verbally, but we should still be teaching the correct written grammer to our children (or peers who are learning English, or how to read/write etc). I don't think it has been adapted as a correct form of grammer.

^ yeah, that!

Would've and should've just sounds like 'of' when spoken, but grammatically 'of' is incorrect.

[Nelle]

You're all wrong.

It's woulda or shoulda.

[Raupe]

You're all wrong.

It's woulda or shoulda.

yeah that!