Could Have, Should Have & Would Have (WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE!?) | English Grammar Mistakes

John could have gone to the park on Monday. John should have gone to the park on Monday. John would have gone to the park on Monday.  What’s the difference here?  Let’s find out. 

 

What’s up guys? My name is Shane and this is part 2 of the could should and would series.  If you haven’t seen part 1, you can check it out right here.

 

Today we are talking about could have, should have and would have. 

 

These words cause a lot of confusion for English learners but they’re actually quite simple once you understand their meaning. 

 

Could have is normally used to talk about possibility in the past. 

 

Should have is normally used to talk about advice in the past and would have is normally used to talk about something that you wanted to do but you didn’t do. 

 

But don’t worry if these words are still confusing because by the end of the lesson, you will understand how to use could have should have and would have.

 

And make sure you watch until the end of the video because we will have a quiz to test your understanding. Okay, let’s get started!  

 

Basic grammar

Look at these three sentences.  What verb do we have after have?  We have gone, right?

 

And what verb is gone? Gone is the past participle for go.

 

So just remember, when we’re using could have should and would have, we always use a past participle after have. 

 

If you haven’t learned about past participles yet, you can watch this video right here where I give you many common examples. 

 

And also, when native speakers say could have should have and would have really quickly, it normally sounds like this. 

 

Could’ve. Should’ve. Would’ve.  Could’ve. Should’ve. Would’ve. 

 

And sometimes you will hear native speakers say coulda. Shoulda. And woulda. Coulda. Woulda. Shoulda.

 

Both are fine.  It’s up to you which one you want to say. You can say could’ve or coulda.  Should’ve or shoulda.  Or would’ve or woulda.  It’s up to you.

 

Could have

John could’ve gone to the park on Monday. What are we talking about here? Past, present or future? We’re talking about the past.

 

Did John go to the park? Did it happen? No it didn’t.

 

But was it possible for him to go? Yes it was.

 

So this is the first meaning of could have. We use it to talk about something that was possible in the past but didn’t happen.

 

So this sentence here means that it was possible for John to go to the park but he didn’t go.

 

What if we want to say it wasn’t possible for John to go to the park?

 

We could say: John could not have gone to the park on Monday.

 

This means it was not possible for him to go and he didn’t go.

 

So just remember, if you want to say something was possible in the past, you need to say could have.

 

But if you want to say it wasn’t possible, then you can say could not have.

 

What if someone asked you: why is John late for the meeting?

 

And you think he forgot the meeting, what can you say here?

 

You can say: John could have forgotten the meeting. John could’ve forgotten the meeting.

 

So this is another use of could have. We can use it to make guesses about the past. What we think happened in the past.

 

We are not sure what happened but we are guessing that John has forgotten the meeting.

 

So we can say: John could have forgotten the meeting. This means we think he has forgotten the meeting but we’re not sure.  It’s just a guess.

 

Remember from part one of this could should and would series I said that you can always add more information to make your sentence clearer. This is the same with could have, should have and would have.

 

Let’s have a look at this example. I could have gone to university but I decided to travel instead. I could’ve gone to university, but I decided to travel instead.

 

What am I talking about here? Past, present or future? The past.

 

Did I go to university? No.

 

Was it possible for me to go to university?

 

Yes. But why didn’t I go? Because I decided to travel instead.

 

So just remember, sometimes when you’re using could have, it’s better to add more information so then you can make the sentence clearer. 

 

Should have

John should have gone to the park on Monday.  What am I talking about here? Past, present or future? The past.

 

Did he go to the park?  No. 

 

Do I wish or do I think it was a good idea for him to go to the park? Yes I do.

 

So this is the first use of should have.  We can use it to talk about something that did not happen but we wish it did happen. We think it would have been really good if that thing happened.

 

What if we want to say that we wish john didn’t go to the park.  So he did go to the park in the past but we want to say we wish he hadn’t gone.

 

We can say john should not have gone to the park on Monday. 

 

So this is another use of should have.  If we say should not have, we are talking about something that happened but we wish that it didn’t happen. 

 

But if something didn’t happen and you wish that it did happen, then you can say should have.

 

What about this one.  He should have finished by work by now.  He should have finished by work by now.  Has he finished work?  I don’t know 100%. 

 

But do I think he has finished work?  Yes I do.

 

So this is another use of should have.  We can use it to talk about something that we think has happened if everything is normal and okay but we’re not 100% sure if everything is okay. We are just guessing. It’s just what we think. 

 

And please note that normally when we use should have, we use by now. 

 

Another example could be his plane should have arrived by now. This means that I think it’s arrived. I’m not 100% sure but if everything is okay and normal, then it has arrived already.  

 

Just like when we use should, sometimes it good to add more information to make the sentence clearer. 

 

A lot of the time when we use should have, we use it to express regrets. Or we want to say that we wish something had happened in the past. 

 

For example, I should have studied harder, but I wasn’t interested.  I should have studied harder, but I wasn’t interested. 

 

Did I study hard? No.

 

do I wish I could change that? Yes.

 

So this sentence here is saying that I didn’t study hard in the past but I wish that I could change it and study hard in the past. 

 

Would have

John would have gone to the park on Monday.  What am I talking about here? Past, present or future? The past. 

 

Did he go to the park? No. 

 

Did he want to go the park?  Yes. 

 

But was there something that stopped him or prevented him from going? Yes, probably.

 

So this is why we use would have. We use it to talk about something we wanted to do in the past but we didn’t do it because normally something prevented us from doing it or something stopped us from doing it. 

 

And normally when we use would have, we give more information to make it clearer. 

 

For example, I would have called you but I didn’t have any signal.  I would have called you but I didn’t have any signal. 

 

When am I talking about here? Past, present or future? The past.

 

Did I call you? No.

 

But did I want to call you?  Yes, I did. 

 

But what stopped me from calling you? It was the fact that I had no signal. 

 

So this sentence here is saying that I wanted to call you but I didn’t because I didn’t have any signal. 

 

Quiz

Okay, now we know the basics of could have, should have and would have. So let’s have a little quiz to test your understanding.

 

I will show you a sentence with two missing words and I want you to fill in those two missing words with could have, should have or would have. 

 

Number one.  I ____ gone to the game but I didn’t have any money.  I wanted to do it.  I ____ gone to the game but I didn’t have any money.  I wanted to do it. 

 

And the correct answer is: I would have gone to the game but I didn’t have any money. We use would have here because we wanted to do something in the past but we didn’t do it because something stopped us. What stopped us? We didn’t have any money. 

 

Number two.  I ___ not ___ gotten so upset when my team lost.  I wish that it didn’t happen.  I ___ not ___ gotten so upset when my team lost.  I wish that it didn’t happen. 

 

And the correct answer is: .  I should not have gotten so upset when my team lost.  We use should not have because we are talking about something that did happen but we wish that it didn’t happen. 

 

Number three.  I ___ gone to the gym but I felt too lazy.  It was possible in the past.  I ___ gone to the gym but I felt too lazy.  It was possible in the past. 

 

And the correct answer is: I could have gone to the gym but I felt too lazy.  Remember, we use could have to talk about something that was possible in the past. 

 

Number four.  He _____ finished his dinner by now.  We think it’s happened already if everything is normal.  He _____ finished his dinner by now.  We think it’s already happened if everything is normal. 

 

And the correct answer is he should have finished his dinner by now.  Remember, we can use should have to talk about something we think has already happened if everything is normal and okay.

 

Number five.  Where is he? He ____ gotten lost.  We are guessing.  Where is he? He ____ gotten lost.  We are guessing. 

 

And the correct answer is: He could have gotten lost.  Remember, we can say could have when we are just guessing what we think happened. 

 

And that is the end of the lesson today.  Now you know the basics of could have, should have and would have in English but remember, these are just the very basics and there are always exceptions to the rule so if you have any questions, please comment down below. 

 

And if you’re interested in more commonly confused words in English, check out this video right here.  And if you haven’t subscribed to the channel already, subscribe right now so you don’t miss any video that can help you understand English like a native speaker. 

 

If you learned something today, please hit like and share this with your friends so they can understand the meaning of could have, should have and would have. 

 

And for daily quizzes, and weekly posts, videos, lessons and much much more, make sure you are following me on Instagram and I will see you in the next video.  What verb do we have after have? We have.  What about this? What about this one?