What’s wrong with What’s wrong with

““could of”could of”

““should of”should of”

““would of”would of”

??

Many of us have got in the habit of Many of us have got in the habit of saying the following phrases:saying the following phrases:

Manchester United could of won the Manchester United could of won the cup.cup.

She should of lent it to me.She should of lent it to me. My mum would of made your tea if My mum would of made your tea if

you wanted to stay.you wanted to stay. What is wrong with these sentences?What is wrong with these sentences?

Let’s look at the first one:Let’s look at the first one: Manchester United could of won the Manchester United could of won the

cup.cup. What you REALLY mean is...What you REALLY mean is... Manchester United could’ve won the Manchester United could’ve won the

cup.cup. Which is a shortened version of...Which is a shortened version of... Manchester United could have won Manchester United could have won

the cup.the cup. How has this mistake happened?How has this mistake happened?

““Could’ve” sounds like “could of” Could’ve” sounds like “could of”

And we get these two sounds mixed up And we get these two sounds mixed up when we speak: “ve” and “of”when we speak: “ve” and “of”

Practice saying them and see if you Practice saying them and see if you can tell the difference!can tell the difference!

Let’s look at the second exampleLet’s look at the second example

She should of lent it to meShe should of lent it to me This should read...This should read... She should’ve lent it to me.She should’ve lent it to me. Which is short for...Which is short for... She should have lent it to me.She should have lent it to me.

Let’s look at the final exampleLet’s look at the final example My mum would of made your tea if My mum would of made your tea if

you wanted to stay.you wanted to stay. It should read...It should read... My mum would’ve made your tea if My mum would’ve made your tea if

you wanted to stay.you wanted to stay. Which is short for...Which is short for... My mum would have made your tea My mum would have made your tea

if you wanted to stay.if you wanted to stay.

Have a go at correcting these Have a go at correcting these sentences:sentences:

Underline the mistake and write the Underline the mistake and write the correct version underneath.correct version underneath.

She shouldn’t of done thatShe shouldn’t of done that

She shouldn’t of done thatShe shouldn’t of done that

She shouldn’t have done thatShe shouldn’t have done that

You could of had five of those if you You could of had five of those if you were careful.were careful.

You could have had five of those if You could have had five of those if you were careful.you were careful.

She would of given him her last She would of given him her last pennypenny

She would have given him her last She would have given him her last pennypenny

You shouldn’t of done that!You shouldn’t of done that!

You shouldn’t have done thatYou shouldn’t have done that

It’s what she would of wanted.It’s what she would of wanted.

It’s what she would have wanted.It’s what she would have wanted.

We could of won that matchWe could of won that match

We could have won that matchWe could have won that match

He wouldn’t of waited for youHe wouldn’t of waited for you

He wouldn’t have waited for youHe wouldn’t have waited for you

Congratulations! You have got the Congratulations! You have got the hang of it!hang of it!