Is there a rule or guidance for this?

Question

As far as I know, "would have pp" can be conditional (or superfluous condition), indicating counterfactual situation (or just an imagined past situation).
But "would have" can also mean "belief/assumption that something happened in the past".
How should I differentiate between these two usages? I often confuse these two usages.
Please tell me some tricks, thank you.
I don't have any examples because I already asked about them in my previous threads. I just want to know if there is a general rule or guidance for this?

Zuotengdazuo · Accepted Answer

I mean to ask: if I encounter a "would have pp" in my reading, how do I know which category it falls into?

AlpheccaStars · Answer

zuotengdazuoHow should I differentiate between these two usages?

You can tell from the context. Ask yourself the question, "Is there any condition, direct or implied?"

Consider the first sentence.

I would have accepted the job, but I didn't want to move house.

The acceptance of the job offer was conditioned (depended) on whether or not I was willing to move.

If I had been willing to move house, I would have accepted the job offer.

Now consider the second.

Someone called after you left but didn't leave a message. (These are facts, what actually happened. There is no choice, no dependency, no condition.)

Here is what the person is thinking about how Cathy behaves.

Cathy called me on my mobile phone while I was out. She always calls my office phone before she calls my mobile phone. So therefore, the person who called was probably Cathy. She didn't leave a message because she was going to immediately call my mobile.

This is what the person says. "That would have been Cathy, probably."

They don't know absolutely for sure. It might have been someone else, but based on the evidence, it was Cathy.

Is there a rule or guidance for this?

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