3 ms·

Or could-have, which I think is more applicable in the sentence you're correcting. Or am I missing some obscure grammar rule?

• triceratops 6y ago
  No you aren't missing anything. "could of" (and its cousins "would of" and "should of") are common mistakes made (interestingly) almost exclusively by English-as-first-language speakers (my observation, so don't ask for citations I don't have any), since they sound similar to "could have", "would have" and "should have" particularly in "native" English accents (I'm thinking North American and UK especially). I've never seen "could-have" (hyphenated) though. I don't think that's right either.
  • hooloovoo_zoo 6y ago
    It's just misspelled. 'Could've' is a standard contraction.
    • triceratops 6y ago
      "Could-have" is misspelled? Or "could of"?
      • jpmoral 6y ago
        It's "could have" or "could've".
        • triceratops 6y ago
          Right
    • zo1 6y ago
      I did misspell it in my comment. It definitely should have (should've? :) ) been written as "could have".
  • silasrude 6y ago
    It's the contraction of could have. "I could've been a contender Charlie!"