Lesson Transcript

Hi everybody, my name is Alisha. In this lesson, I'm going to talk about could have, should have, and would have, what they mean, how to use them in the negative, and the differences between them.
So, let's get started. First, I want to begin with could have. Let's look at the positive and the negative meanings of could have.
First, positive. We use could have, positive, for something that was possible in the past. So, to give kind of an image of this, if our conversation is happening now, when we use could have, we're talking about something that had possibility in the past, something we were able to do, for example.
An example sentence. If I had known you were throwing a surprise party, I could have helped. I could have helped. So, here could have shows us that this action, helping, was possible in the past. In this case, the speaker did not know some information, and as a result, this action did not happen, but it was possible at a point in the past.
The speaker could have helped. Helping was a possibility in the past. So, we use could have to express that possibility. The negative form, however, expresses the opposite.
So, in the negative, could not have, expresses something that was impossible, impossible, so not possible in the past.
So, here, if we want to give an image, it's something that was not possible, something we were not able to do. Let's look at an example of this.
No, that couldn't have been Sarah in the cafe just now. She's at the office.
So, here, I'm using couldn't have, could not have, contracted, reduced, becomes couldn't.
So, that couldn't have been Sarah in the cafe just now.
In other words, it's impossible that just now we saw Sarah in the cafe. Why? She's at the office.
So, in this case, maybe Sarah is the speaker's colleague, coworker.
So, we know Sarah is at the office. So, we saw someone maybe who looks like Sarah at the cafe just now, but it's not possible it was Sarah because Sarah's at the office. So, we can say that couldn't have been. So, it's impossible that that was Sarah.
So, couldn't have been sounds much more natural than it's impossible that that was Sarah.
So, we use couldn't have been or could not have been. So, positive form, something that was possible in the past. So, be careful. In maybe contrast, a key difference here is this is only about possibility.
We're not talking about like a plan to do something or regret necessarily. We're only talking about possibility when we use could or could not here. So, with this, let's move along to the next part.
The next part, I want to focus on should have. So, let's look at the positive form. Should have in the positive expresses regret for something we did not do in the past.
So, an image of this here, if our conversation is happening now, we want to talk about something we did not do in the past, and that now maybe we think, oh, it's a good idea. Like, I should have done this thing. I did not do this thing in the past. That's why I marked it with an X here.
So, I did not do this thing, but I feel bad now. I feel regret. Like, I should have done that thing in the past. So, an example sentence of this. I should have studied more when I was in school. Here is the should have.
I should have, and this action, studied more. So, in other words, the speaker did not study enough in the past. The speaker feels he or she did not study enough in the past, regrets that, and wants to express the change. Like, I wish I had done this thing. I should have studied more when I was in school. So, here we have more.
This is a common pattern with should have or should not have. When we use more, it means I should have studied more than I did when I was in school.
So, here the speaker is expressing regret, sadness about something they did not do.
Therefore, when we use the negative form, the speaker again expresses regret, yes, but they're expressing regret for something that happened in the past, something they did in the past. So, I've marked it here with a check. This action did happen, and we feel regret about that action.
We feel bad about something we did in the past.
An example. I shouldn't have spent so much time playing video games when I was a kid. So, here I've used shouldn't have. So, should not have is how we make the negative form.
I've reduced it shouldn't have, shouldn't have in rapid speech, shouldn't have. I shouldn't have spent so much time playing video games.
So, what's the action here? The speaker played video games when he or she was a child. The speaker now regrets that. The speaker says, I shouldn't have spent so much time.
I should have spent less time playing video games. So, I could use positive should have. I should have spent less time playing video games when I was a kid.
Here, I shouldn't have spent so much time. So, here, a key point with should have is that we're expressing regret. Remember, with could have, we're talking just about possibility.
With should have, we're expressing a regret for something that did or did not happen in the past. So, with this in mind, let's go on to the last point for this lesson.
The last point, the last point rather is would have, would have. So, when we say would have, we often say would have, would have. I mentioned it here with should have, we say should have or shouldn't have.
Same thing with could have like could have or couldn't have is the correct pronunciation in fast speech.
So, when we talk about would have or when we look at would have and we look at the positive form, we use it to express a plan for something that did not happen.
So, we're talking about something in the past. So, from a point in the past, something in the future at that time, we had a plan for that thing or we thought something was going to happen, but in the positive form, it did not happen. This is kind of tricky.
Let's look at an example situation here. I would have arrived on time today, but there was terrible traffic.
So, I did not arrive on time. So, first, here's my action. I would have arrived on time. So, I had a plan or I had a desire.
I was thinking I was going to arrive on time. So, at this point in time, I would have arrived on time today.
Maybe we're thinking when I left the house, maybe this is where the action starts. My plan was to arrive on time.
So, again, this is all happening in the past. My conversation is here. I was planning to arrive on time, but there was terrible traffic.
Terrible traffic means lots and lots of cars. It was difficult to drive or difficult to get to work. So, I did not arrive on time. I would have arrived on time, but I didn't because of terrible traffic.
So, this would have shows us all of this information, everything here happened in the past on like a timeline. So, I thought I was going to arrive on time. Something happened and I didn't.
So, we can use would have to show like our thinking in this point would have in the past about a future action that is also in the past. So, a couple of past points there at the same time. Okay. So, let's compare this then to the negative form. The negative form then expresses the opposite.
So, we have a lack of plan or a lack of a desire. So, lack of something means no plan or no desire. So, lack of plan for something that happened in the past.
It did happen, So, we commonly use both of these to talk about other people's choices like when we're giving advice. This example sentence is a very common way that we use would not have or wouldn't have.
Let's look. If I were you, I wouldn't have quit my job before I found a new position. So, here is my would not have. I reduced it to wouldn't have.
I would not have quit my job before I found a new position. So, that means if I were you, this is how we're beginning this. This is a very common way that this would have or would not have is used. So, if I were you, I'm not you, but if I were at this point in time in the past, my decision would not have been to quit my job.
However, your decision was to quit your job. This did happen. You quit your job. In my case, I would not have done that.
So, here in opposite to the positive form, I'm talking about a point in the past like if I were you just in general and I'm talking about a future decision I might make.
In this case, the person listening did choose to quit his or her job. I'm saying I would not have quit my job. That would not have been my decision for the future. So, again, there's kind of this idea of two points in the past like a kind of a general, I guess, a starting point in the past if I were you, in this case, and some decision, some plan, some like desire or lack of desire in this case in the negative form.
So, we use these, like I said, to talk about like other people's choices when we're giving advice like, oh, if I were you, I would have done this in the past.
So, we use would have to talk about past decisions and maybe to talk about things like if you were the speaker, like things you might change, what would you do differently.
So, we use this to talk about these sorts of past decisions and give advice and talk about how we might make different decisions in the future. So, this kind of expresses a desire or lack of desire. This one should have expresses regret in the past, could have expresses possibility.
So, this is just a quick introduction to the differences between these three expressions and their negative forms.
I didn't write the not here, so would not have, but if you have any other questions about this, please let us know in the comments.
They are very similar, I know, they sound very similar and it can be hard to understand how to use them, but try to keep these three kind of themes in mind, possibility and regret and then kind of desire or advice here. So, I hope that this helps you understand the differences between these three.
If you have questions or comments or if you want to practice making an example sentence, please feel free to do so in the comment section of this video. Thanks very much for watching this lesson and I will see you again soon. Bye bye.

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