“Are you crazy? We could have gotten into an accident.” Would Have Imagine you’re driving with a person who makes a dangerous maneuver on the road. “She could have won the gold medal if she hadn’t fallen three times.”Ĭould have is often used with “if + had + past participle” (If I had gone / if she hadn’t fallen) – these “if” phrases express the imaginary past situation. However, in some cases you can use could have without the “if” phrase. When talking about a gymnast who didn’t win a competition, you can say: “If I had gone to college, I could have gotten a better job.” Use could have to talk about possibilities if something had been different in the past.įor example, someone who didn’t go to college can say: You shouldn’t have played video games all weekend.” Could Have You can also use should have / shouldn’t have to tell other people that a different action in the past would have been better. If your son fails a test, you can say: “I shouldn’t have yelled at you yesterday. If you arrive late to English class, you can say: Use should have to say that a different action was recommended in the past. The same general rule applies when using should have, could have, and would have for imaginary past situations.
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Or we could go shopping.”Ĭlick here for more examples of the difference between should, could, and would.
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“Great! We could spend the day at the beach. “If you want to lose weight, you should eat healthy food.” Should have, could have, and would have are sometimes called “modals of lost opportunity” because they describe situations when we are imagining that the past was different.īefore we study those terms in the past, let’s review the difference between should, could, and would. The general rule is: “Past modals” or “modals of lost opportunity” are used to imagine that the past was different.