Tuesday, February 8, 2011

I would have liked to have if I had to have...what?

Most people appear to be confused about would have. I hear them saying things like this:
I would have like to have gone, but I didn't get to.
What they don't know is this: you don't need more than one "have." They can say it either of two ways:
I would like to have gone...
I would have liked to go...
TIP: Cut your "haves" in half.

3 comments:

  1. Isn't it "I would have like*D* to have gone, but I didn't get to"? And wouldn't that actually make sense, as in "Five years ago when that happened, of course I would have liked to have gone, but I didn't get to. In retrospect though, I no longer regret it". It's pretty much correct grammar to me...

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  2. Oh that was old, grandma redirected me here... :)

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  3. I agree with adinutzyc21. The only problem with "I would have like to have gone, but I didn't get to" is the tense of the word "like," which should be "liked." Also, the sentence would be improved by adding the word "go" at the end, so it reads:

    I would have liked to have gone, but I didn't get to go.

    The same problem crops up with the word "use," as in "I use to like that." The proper construction is "I used to like that." Because SAYING this incorrectly is usually not noticed as an error, many people think "use" is the correct word to use in this sentence. It is not the correct word.

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