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Anonymous Posted 17 years ago
Grammar

I wonder if it's ok to write "would of been better" instead of "would have been better"..

I would be very grateful if you could help me with this phrase:

Is is ok to write "would of been better" instead of writing "would have been better".

Thanks in advance!!
  

Top answer

Hi Anon No, using "of" rather than "have" would always be grammatically incorrect. However, it is a mistake that quite a few native speakers of English make when writing. When you say " would've been " (which is how native speakers of English typically pronounce "would have been" in conversation), the contraction would've is pronounced in a way that sounds very much like "would of" -- and that is most likely where the written mistake comes from.

— Yankee

  • Hi Anon No, using "of" rather than "have" would always be grammatically incorrect.
  • However, it is a mistake that quite a few native speakers of English make when writing.
  • When you say " would've been " (which is how native speakers of English typically pronounce "would have been" in conversation), the contraction would've is pronounced in a way that sounds very much like "would of" -- and that is most likely where the written mistake comes from.
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1 Answers
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Hi Anon

No, using "of" rather than "have" would always be grammatically incorrect. However, it is a mistake that quite a few native speakers of English make when writing.

When you say "would've been" (which is how native speakers of English typically pronounce "would have been" in conversation), the contraction would've is pronounced in a way that sounds v
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