could've, would've, should've/of

This one drives your English teacher crazy. The problem here is that people write the way they speak.

When people write the contractions "would've," "could've," or "should've," the "'ve" part of it sounds like the word "of." So, naturally, when the desire arises to write it out, it becomes "would of," "should of," etc.

The bottom line is it's never correct. Did you hear me? Never!

've refers to "have." If you really feel the need to write out the contraction, it's "could have," etc.

What's wrong with you people? Do you really hate your former English teacher that much? Or were you just asleep on the day he or she went over this?