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Quick tips: should have vs. should of

Zach McLaughlin

Have you ever come across a sentence such as “They should of fired the coach” or “I should of known better”? I’ve seen both of these sentences recently on Facebook. What kind of grammar is this?


Well, it’s actually a common mistake - it’s not grammatical at all! It should be “They should have fired the coach” and “I should have known better.” So, why is this mistake so common?


When someone speaks the contraction of “should have,” which is “should’ve,” it sounds just like “should of,” so some people write “should of” because that’s what they hear!


While this mistake is most common with “should,” it can occur with other modals as well, such as “could” and “would.” Keep an eye out for this mistake committed by native English speakers and try not to repeat it!


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The opinions expressed in this column are the author's own and do not reflect the view of Cafetalk.

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Language Fluency

Inglese   Madrelingua
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