I could of earned a better grade in the class. I should of studied more. I would of been able to raise my grade point average if I had.
The terms “could of,” “should of,” and “would of” are incorrect. These are nonstandard homophones of contracted verbs and should never be used in standard written English.
The contractions “could’ve” (”could” + “have”), “should’ve” (”should” + “have”), and “would’ve” (”would” + “have”) sound like the nonstandard terms “could of,” “should of,” and “would of.” The latter set of terms should not be used in writing that is meant to conform to the rules of standard written English.
I could have earned a better grade in the class. I should have studied more. I would have been able to raise my grade point average if I had.
