In this module, we will look at ‘should’ve, could’ve, would’ve, and must’ve’. These are really common in English speech but are a little difficult because they all have unique meanings.
I should’ve told you about the problems sooner.
She could’ve postponed the meeting but it’s better not to.
The data isn’t here. It must’ve been lost in the system.
Should’ve:
If we understand that should=a good idea, then ‘should’ve’ is a good idea, in the past, which did not happen.
It’s often used to talk about mistakes and regrets:
“I should’ve gone to bed earlier last night”
“we should’ve double checked the slides; there were a lot of mistakes”
We can also use it to give others advice or point out others’ mistakes:
“If there was a problem, you should’ve told me.”
“This meat is a bit red, they should’ve cooked it more.”
Could’ve:
We ‘could’ve’ when we want to talk about something which was possible in the past, something we could do in the past. Note that what comes after ‘could’ve’ didn’t happen, but was able to happen.
The first way we use this is to talk about past possibilities and decisions we made:
“I could’ve gone to a better university but I went to a local one because wanted to be close to my family”
“Michael could’ve joined our team but he really wanted to work in marketing”
The second way we use this is to tell people about options in the past.
“Thank you for sending the work so early. We need it next we so you could’ve sent it later.”
“Why did you catch the slow local train? You could’ve waited five minutes and caught the express for the same price”
Note: In these two examples, the meaning is similar to ‘should’ve’ but with a softer nuance
Would’ve:
Would’ve is the more difficult one. It is used to talk about things which, again, didn’t happen but seem natural for us to do, or something that happens as a logical result.
In the first case, let’s look at examples of something which seemed natural for us to do in the past. This often uses ‘if’
“It’s your birthday?! I would’ve bought you a present if you told me!”
“If he asked for help, I would’ve done so”
And here are examples of describing logical results.
“If you tried to lie, they would’ve known”
“If we gave them a large discount at first, they would’ve expected the same again later”
Note:
Must’ve:
We use must’ve quite differently. In the previous three perfect modals, the thing we explain didn’t happen. However, ‘must’ve’ is used when something definitely did happen!
The first way we use this is like a detective. When we guess about what happened.
“I didn’t see John today at all in the office. He must’ve gone to see a customer or is working from home.”
“I can’t find the files. They must’ve been saved somewhere else.”
In a similar meaning, the other way we use to express shock or disbelief because actions are not logical or expected
“He must’ve known about the meeting: I emailed him about it three times.” “Why did he CC the customer in the meeting? He must’ve understood this information is only for internal employees”
