Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[mini_1]

can anyone explain the differece between could have & would have & should have?pls explain with examples.
mini

[obelix]

Could is used as a kind of past tense of can to express the same ideas in a weaker way.
I could not pick up such a heavy basket.

Would is the past tense of will and is used especially in reported speech: He said he would be home at six.... To express the conditional mood: They would have missed the bus if they hadn't run.
To express habitual action:
He would always eat fish on Fridays.
To express a question or polite request: Would you like a cup of tea?
To express probability: I thought she would win the game.
To express consent: They said that they would help
Used with that to express a wish in formal English: Would that I were twenty-one again.
Used with -be. i.e. would-be: desiring or aspiring to be something.
He was a would-be policeman, who was working as a security guard.

[mini_1]

thanx for ur clear explanation
mini

[LucentShade]

I could have eaten that pie = I had the ability to eat that pie, but for some reason, I didn't.

I would have eaten that pie = I had the desire to eat that pie, but because of some reason or circumstance, I didn't eat it.

"would have" + past participle is known as the "conditional perfect" tense, and is unique among verb tenses because it expresses no action.

[butane317]

Lucent Shade has this one right on, but I am just going to rephrase it slightly.

Could have: You had the option to, but chose not to.

Would have: Although you chose to, for some reason, something stopped you.
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Definitions of words I give are the definitions as I learned them and as I use them in everyday life. I am from the midwest area of America. People speaking English in other parts of the world, or even America, may use the words differently than I do.