Should have, Would have, and Could have, how do they differ?

Hello guys! Before we begin with my article, I just want to tell everybody that I am not a teacher, and I am not an English native speaker. Unlike most everyone here who can speak and write English very well, I am in a learning process, so please bear with me.

Today we will talk about modal verbs could have, should have, and would have. These past tense modals are useful for expressing your present feelings about a past decision or other action.

Could have, would have, and should have are sometimes called “modals of lost opportunities.” They work like a grammatical time machine. The simple past just tells what happened. Past modals tell what could have, would have, and should have happened.

To form these past modals, use could, would, or should be followed by have, followed by a past participle verb. Use have for all pronouns; never use has or had to form a past modal. Here are some examples:

She could have gone to any college she wanted to.

He should have told the truth about what he saw.

Should have (should've)

• means that something did not happen, but we wish it had happened. We use should have to talk about past mistakes.

Example;

I came to work feeling exhausted. I should have gone to bed earlier.

I should have listened to my mother.

Could have (could've)

• means that something was possible in the past, but it did not happen.

Example;

I could have gone directly to college, but I decided to travel for a year.

Listen to the song "Could have been" by Tiffany, a 1980's teen pop star. The singer is thinking about past possibilities with her lost love. and it goes like this;

Could have been so beautiful

Could have been so right

Could have been my lover

Every day of my life.

Would have ( Would've)

• means something that you have decided to do but it did not happen.

Would have has two common structures. The first is with "but."

For example; I would have called, but there was no phone service.

Would have also formed the result clause of a past unreal conditional.

For example: If I had known they were vegetarians, I would have made a salad.

You can always reverse conditional sentences. If would have come first, there is no comma.

I would have made a salad if I had known they were vegetarians.

I hope you have learned something from me today. If I have missed out something about my topic, let me know by leaving a comment below. I will also leave a quick quiz for you guys.

Quick Quiz

You ____ told me that you love me.

I ____ said, I love you too.

We ___ been together, but it's too late.

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