You know what they say: Grammarliness is next to godliness. What? No one says that? Okay, fine, but good grammar is still important. Lately, I’ve noticed one grammar mistake creeping into texts, emails and Instagram captions: the use of could of/would of/should of. This is a problem like how often I wear yoga pants instead of real pants is a problem–it’s happening more than the world probably needs.

In conversation, it sounds like we’re saying coulda or could of (e.g., I could of eaten another slice of pizza), but what we’re really hearing is a contraction of could and have (i.e., I could’ve eaten another slice of pizza). So while we might say coulda, woulda, shoulda, it should always be written out could have, would have, should have or could’ve, would’ve, should’ve.

Happy contracting!

(Photo by Sugar Paper)