I was having lunch with my best friend yesterday and she said she "could of" bought a new pair of shoes if she "would of" saved more of her paycheck. The friend in me wanted to hug her and tell her that she could borrow my Jimmy Choo heels any time she wanted, but the Grammar Hero in me couldn't keep my mouth shut.
"Beth," I said, "I think you meant that you could have bought those sassy pumps if you would have saved your cash. See, we use 'have' to speculate about something that didn't happen. 'Of' is a preposition and signifies possession. So it just doesn't make sense."
It might not have been the explanation she wanted, but I think I saved her grammar day. Grammar Hero to the rescue!
Kristen House is an Adjunct Instructor of Writing at Belmont University, and the Chief Executive Muse of A Novel Idea. She writes fiction every day for hours, even when there isn't anything to write about. Kristen lives in Nashville with her husband, Andrew, sons, Holden and Shephard, and a yippy little dog named Osie.
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