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From VOA Learning English, this is Everyday Grammar.

Today we will take a look at the modal verbs could have, would have and should 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 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.

I would have gone to the party, but I was tired.

He should have told the truth about what he saw.

Each of these modals has a slightly different meaning. We'll look at each of them using examples from movies and popular songs.

​ Could have

We'll start with could have. Could have means that something was possible in the past, but it did not happen.

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

Listen to this song by 1980s teen pop star Tiffany. The singer is thinking about past possibilities with her lost love.

Could have been so beautiful

Could have been so right

Could have been my lover

Every day of my life

Native speakers often do not pronounce their past tense modals as clearly as Tiffany. Could have been usually gets contracted to could've been or even coulda' been.

Listen to Marlon Brando in the classic film "On the Waterfront." Brando's character, Terry Malloy, was once a promising young boxer.

"You don't understand. I coulda' had class. I coulda' been a contender. I could have been somebody-instead of a bum."

To form the negative with these modals, use not between could and have. Could not have means that something was impossible in the past. For example:

She could not have been on that flight because I just saw her at work.

Defense lawyers often use could not have to argue for a client's innocence.

A popular compliment in English is, "I couldn't have said it better myself." You can say this when you like the way somebody said something. It is a way to show strong agreement.
Would have
Let's move on to would have.

Would have is a bit more difficult because it has two common structures. The first is with but. I would have A, but I had to B. Use this structure to show that you wanted to do something in the past, but you could not.

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

I would have loaned you the money, but I didn't have any.

Would have also forms 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 comes first, there is no comma.

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

Past unreal conditionals are very complex; you can learn more about them on a previous episode of Everyday Grammar.

Usually, would have suggests a bad feeling about the past. But not always. In this song by the band Chicago, the singer is surprisingly happy that his ex-girlfriend cheated on him. Her infidelity gave him the opportunity to meet someone else. And that someone else turned out to be his true love.

If she would have been faithful

If she could have been true

Then I wouldn'ta been cheated

I would never know real love

I would've missed out on you
Should have
Finally, let's look at should have. Should have means that something did not happen, but we wish it had happened. We use should have to talk about past mistakes. A worried mother might say:

"I was so worried about you. You should have called!"

Should have is common in apologies. For example:

I'm sorry that I'm late for work. I should have woken up earlier.

You might remember Lieutenant Dan in the movie Forrest Gump. In the movie, Dan loses both of his legs in the Vietnam War. He would have died, but Forrest saved him.

Listen for should have as Dan confronts Forrest.

"You listen to me. We all have a destiny. Nothing just happens. It's all part of a plan. I should have died out there with my men. But now I'm nothing but a cripple!"

Should have can be used in a light-hearted way. In this song, country singer Toby Keith imagines how exciting his life would be if he had chosen to be a cowboy.

I should've been a cowboy

I should've learned to rope and ride

Wearing my six-shooter

Riding my pony on a cattle drive

I couldn't have said it better myself. As you can see, these modals of lost opportunities offer a colorful way to talk about past choices.

That's all for this week. Join us next week for more Everyday Grammar.

I'm John Russell.

And I'm Dr. Jill Robbins.
​Now it's your turn. Leave us example sentence. What is something you could have / should have / would have done in the past? Adam Brock wrote this article for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.

​

Words in This Story

modal verb - n. a verb (such as can, could, shall, should, ought to, will, or would) that is usually used with another verb to express ideas such as possibility, necessity, and permission

contender - n. a person who tries to win something in a game or competition

bum - n. a person who is lazy or who does something badly

compliment - n. a comment that says something good about someone or something

vegetarian - n. a person who does not eat meat

infidelity - n. the act or fact of having a romantic or sexual relationship with someone other than your husband, wife, or partner

confront - v. to oppose someone, especially in a direct and forceful way

cripple - n. a person who cannot move or walk normally because of a permanent injury or other physical problem

six-shooter - n. a kind of gun (called a revolver) that can hold six bullets (often used to describe guns used in the old American West)

cattle drive - n. the process of moving cows from one place to another

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

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search our site by Craig Shrives

What Is a Conditional Sentence? (with Examples)

A conditional sentence is a sentence that gives a condition (e.g., If it snows) and the outcome of the condition occurring (e.g., the game will be cancelled).

Easy Examples of Conditional Sentences

In each example below, the clause expressing the condition is highlighted.

There are four types of conditional sentences:

zero conditional

Expresses something as a fact

If you sleep, you dream.

first conditional

States the result of a possible future event occurring

If you get some sleep, you will feel better.

second conditional

States the result of an unlikely event occurring or an untruth being true

If you became an insomniac, you would understand. (unlikely event occurring)

If you were an insomniac, you would understand. (untruth being true)

third conditional

States how the situation would be different with a different past

If you had slept last night, you would have beaten your record.

Here is a short video summarizing this lesson.

Some Real-Life Examples of Zero Conditional Sentences

A zero-conditional sentence expresses a general fact (i.e., a situation where one thing always causes another).

If you rest, you rust. (Actress Helen Hayes)

If you think you can, you can. And if you think you can't, you are right. (Business magnate Henry Ford)

You do ill if you praise, but you do worse if you censure, what you do not understand. (Polymath Leonardo da Vinci)

Structure: With a zero-conditional sentence, the simple present tense is used in both clauses. Also, the words if and when are interchangeable.
If I make money, I'm happy. When I lose money, I'm happy. (Gambling magnate Lui Che Woo) (With a zero-conditional sentence, the message is expressed as a fact. That doesn't mean it's true of course.)

Some Real-Life Examples of First Conditional Sentences

A first-conditional sentence states the result of a hypothetical, but possible, future event (e.g., If you rest) occurring.

If one swain [young lover] scorns you, you will soon find another. (Roman poet Virgil)

If I like a food, even if it's bad for me, I will eat it. (RealityTV star Kim Kardashian)

Structure: With a first-conditional sentence, the simple present tense is used in the if-clause, and the simple future tense used in the main clause.

Some Real-Life Examples of Second Conditional Sentences

A second-conditional sentence states the result of an unlikely event occurring (e.g., If the boat sank) or an untruth being truth (e.g., If they were on time).

If I won the lottery, I would still love you. I'd miss you, but I'd still love you. (Comedian Frank Carson)

If I saw a heat wave, I would wave back. (Comedian Steven Wright)

If I had any humility, I would be perfect. (Media mogul Ted Turner)

If you set out to be liked, you would compromise on everything and achieve nothing. (Margaret Thatcher)

Structure: With a second-conditional sentence, the simple past tense is used in the if-clause, and would (rarely should or could) with the base form of a verb is used in the main clause.
Nowadays, it's safe to say that the simple past tense is used in the if-clause, but in fact it's the past subjunctive, which is identical to the simple past tense apart from when I and he/she/it are used with the verb to be (e.g., If I were millionaire, If she were to try). (There's an entry on the subjunctive mood.)

If I were a rich man, all day long I'd biddy-biddy-bum. (Extract from "Fiddler on the Roof")
I'd is short for I would. To biddy-biddy-bum must be a verb.)
Life would be tragic if it weren't funny. (Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking)

That said, it is now common to see the simple past tense used in all circumstances.
If I was a man, I don't know whether I'd settle down long before I was 50. (Journalist Mariella Frostrup)

Some Real-Life Examples of Third Conditional Sentences

Third-conditional sentences express how the situation would be different if the past had been different.

If my lawyer and I had communicated properly in January 1958, this whole history would have been entirely different. (Inventor of the laser Gordon Gould, who fought unsuccessfully to patent it)

If I had learned education, I would not have had time to learn anything else. (Business magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt)

If I had known how hard it would be to do something new in the payments industry, I would never have started PayPal. (Co-founder of PayPal Peter Thiel)

With a third-conditional sentence, the past perfect tense is used in the if-clause, and would have (rarely could have) with a past participle is used in the main clause.

More about Conditional Sentences

If-clauses without an If. An if-clause can be introduced with other terms such as when, unless, provided that and as long as or by using inversion (e.g., Were he available, he would be selected.)

I will swim unless the water is too cold.

I will swim as long as the water is not too cold.

I will swim provided that the water is not too cold.

When they introduce an if-clause, when, provided that and as long as can usually be replaced with if. Also, unless could be replaced with an if..not construction (e.g., if the water is not too cold). So, the term if-clause, despite being disliked by some grammarians, is pretty accurate. It's certainly convenient.
Mixed Conditionals. Occasionally, a conditional sentence will "steal" the structures from two different types of conditional sentences. This most commonly occurs with a conditional sentence that uses the structure of a second-conditional sentence for one clause and the structure of a third-conditional sentence for the other. These are called mixed conditionals.

If we were smarter, we wouldn't have set off in this weather.

If you had checked the weather, we wouldn't be stranded now.
(The if-clause is third-conditional structure. The main is second-conditional structure.)
Mixed conditionals like these are typically used to express regret for past action or past inaction. Fortunately, the vast majority of native English speakers can create conditional sentences of all 4 "flavours" and the mixed "flavours" without tripping themselves up. It's because native English speakers are naturally great at tenses. That said, there are some fairly common hiccups related to tense worth covering and also a point on using commas.
(Point 1) Using a comma with an if-clause.

When the if-clause precedes the main clause, use a comma after the if-clause.

If I were white, I could capture the world. (African-American actress Dorothy Dandridge, 1922-65)

If you steal from one author, it's plagiarism; if you steal from many, it's research. (Playwright Wilson Mizner)

If the main clause precedes the if-clause, don't use a comma before the if-clause (unless you think it helps the reader).

Dreams grow if you grow. (Author Zig Ziglar)

There are consequences if you act militarily, and there are big consequences if you don't act. (US Diplomat Dennis Ross)

Here's an example that sums everything up:
There are economic risks if we leave. If we remain, there are economic risks. (Politician Michael Gove)

(Issue 2) Using the wrong tense in one of your clauses.

Tense errors can creep in. Below are the most common ones with each structure.

Zero-conditional Structure. To express something as a fact, writers should use the zero-conditional structure ( if + simple present tense, simple present tense). However, writers sometimes use the first-conditional structure ( if + simple present tense, simple future tense), which states the result of a possible future event occurring.

If you sleep, you will dream.

When dogs die, they will go to doggy heaven.
(In both examples, the will should be deleted.)
With this mistake, the sentence structure is grammatically sound. It's the wrong sentence structure though, which affects the intended meaning.
First-conditional Structure. With the first-conditional structure, writers sometimes use the simple future tense (instead of the simple present tense) in the if-clause.

If you will get some sleep, you will feel better.

You can have everything in life you want if you will just help other people get what they want. (Author Zig Ziglar)
(In both examples, the will should probably be deleted.)
These haven't been marked as wrong because this structure is sometimes used to emphasize that the future action must occur. (And, that's a good get-out if you're ever picked up for this mistake.)
Second-conditional Structure. With the second-conditional structure, writers sometimes use the simple present tense (instead of the simple past tense) in the if-clause.

If you become an insomniac, you would understand.
If you became an insomniac would be correct.)
The next most common mistake is to use will (instead of would) in the main clause.

If you became an insomniac, you will understand.
You would understand would be correct.)
Third-conditional Structure. With the third-conditional structure, writers sometimes use would have (instead of the past perfect tense) in the if-clause.

If you would have slept last night, you would have beaten your record.
If you had slept last night would be correct.)

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Conditional Sentences: Explanation and Examples

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Conditional sentences are sentences that give a condition (e.g., 'If it rains') and the outcome of the condition being true (e.g., 'the show will be ruined'). There are four main types of conditional sentence. This page explains the types and their formats and also includes an interactive exercise.

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Life Intermediate Unit 11

bookmark

A URL that you save in your browser so all you have to do is click on the title to visit it again

catch up

find out the latest information about something or someone

celebrity

a famous person

click

A trigger on the for an animation or transition that occurs when the mouse is clicked.

entertainment

something that pleases, amuses, or interests, especially a performance or show

feature

an important part of something, eg a newspaper article or that deals with a topic in more detail than other articles in the paper.

gossip

to spread rumors or talk about the private matters of others

live

a TV, radio or internet programme that is made available as it happens rather than being a recording

society

A community of people who share a common culture

blog

A series, or log, of discussion items on a page of the internet

eclipse

The partial or total blocking of one object in space by another

search

to look for something

access

approach or admittance to places, persons, things

affordable

inexpensive, reasonably priced

benefit

to gain or receive good results from something

debate

a discussion in which reasons are advanced for and against some proposition or proposal

dial

to make a phone call by entering the number.

enable

to make possible

highlight

to emphasize

issue

an important topic or problem for debate or discussion

lack

be without or deficient in, a shortage

network

a group of organizations, people or things that are connected and that work towards achieving the same things

overcome

to succeed in doing what you want to do by despite the problems that are involved

app

short for application; a program designed to make users more productive and/or assist them with personal tasks.

handle

to deal with something

grade

one year of education eg Kindergarten or 1st grade

kindergarten

a preschool for children age 4 to 6 to prepare them for primary school

mumble

to speak in a low voice that is not clear

recess

the time during which people go out to take a break

swamp

an area of land that is mostly thick mud or water.

stream

a channel through which something is continually flowing for example water or the internet

media

television, radio, newspapers, magazines, etc.,

wade

walk through water or mud

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