Could Have and Would Have

Could Have and Would Have Could Have and Would Have Could Have and Would Have By Maeve Maddox Rita Levin asks: Can you please explain the difference between could had/could have and would had/would have. To begin with, the combinations could had and would had are impossibilities in standard English. It was with great dismay that I found the following utterances (and many more like them) on the web: If I had been killed she would had to carry a dark burden of remorse If Greece and Greeks would had been converted to islam would Greece had the problems of debt currently? Encore could had been a masterpiece If you could had $100 GC at Amazon, which cans for Rock music would you get? The combination could have is always followed by a past participle. NOTE: This discussion is limited to the use of have and had with could and would. Here are some uses of could have and would have. Someone was capable of doing something, but out of choice or necessity, was unable to do so: I could have been a contender. If I could have seen the stage, I would have told you who was playing. Something unfortunate was a possible outcome of some act: You could have killed us all, driving like that. The speaker is being critical: You could have opened the door when you saw what I was carrying. The speaker is speculating: Why isnt he here yet? He could have been caught in traffic. How did she find out? James could have told her. Note: could can be used to express speculation without the use of have: He could be stuck in traffic. Those strange neighbors could be space aliens. The phrase would have is also followed by the past participle form of the verb. It is used in the main clause of a sentence that contains an if clause: If I had known you were coming, I would have baked a cake. If they had been thinking straight, they would not have gone to the party. I would have reached my destination earlier if I hadnt lost my way. Here are the incorrect examples rewritten: If I had been killed, she would have had to carry a dark burden of remorse If Greece and the Greeks had been converted to Islamwould Greece have the current problems of debt? Encore could have been a masterpiece If you could have $100 GC at Amazon Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:How to Structure A Story: The Eight-Point Arc7 Patterns of Sentence Structure8 Great Podcasts for Writers and Book Authors