Would’ve vs must’ve

Question

Hello everyone,I heard these sentences from a native speaker. I know they are not third conditionals.  A: If you did well on your test, then you would’ve studied well for it.B: Jake would’ve taken the bus to get to school if it rained.Are these sentences correct? Isn’t “would’ve” in the sentences above a weaker version of “must’ve”? Thank you.

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

anonymousAre these sentences correct?

They are natural, I guess.

anonymousIsn’t “would’ve” in the sentences above a weaker version of “must’ve”?

In sentence A, yes. That is unusual in my dialect, and non-standard in general, I think, but everybody knows what it means.

I suppose it is possible that someone could say sentence B and mean "would've" the way it is used in sentence A, but everybody I know would hear a third conditional.

CalifJim · Answer

anonymousA: If you did well on your test, then you would’ve studied well for it.

~ A: If you did well on your test, then you probably studied well for it.

anonymousB: Jake would’ve taken the bus to get to school if it rained.

~ B: Jake would’ve taken the bus to get to school if it had rained.

I've shown paraphrases above for the intended meanings as I see them.

A is a bit weird to my ear; B sounds fine, and is a typical "past-for-past-perfect" substitution that you hear in casual speech.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

They cannot be third conditionals because the context is that you did well on your test and it did rain in reality. The native speaker used “would’ve” to speculate whether you studied well for it or whether Jake took the bus. Is that native speaker incorrect in using “would’ve” that way?

Anonymous · Answer

anonymous
Hello everyone,
I heard these sentences from a native speaker. I know they are not third conditionals.
A: If you did well on your test, then you would’ve studied well for it.
B: Jake would’ve taken the bus to get to school if it rained.
Are these sentences correct? Isn’t “would’ve” in the sentences above a weaker version of “must’ve”? Thank you.

Hello,

I am the OP. It seems like there are many Anons here. The context is you probably did well on your test or you probably didn’t; it probably rained or it probably didn’t rain. I think that that native speaker used would’ve to speculate assuming that “it rained” or “you did well on your test.” Is the use of would’ve incorrect with this context? That native speaker also said “would’ve” in the sentences is simply a weaker version of must’ve.

Would’ve vs must’ve

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