'Should of' v. 'Should have': which is correct?

Have.

In "I should have done X", the word 'have' is an auxiliary verb, which is a verb we use in English to form a sentence structure, although the verb itself is usually stripped of its meaning. 'To be' ("I am going there") and 'to do' ("Do you smoke?") are the other main auxiliary verbs in English. Other languages use auxiliary verbs similarly, I think French is an example.

"I should of done X" is not a sentence structure.

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

How is this a real question?

"Should of" makes no grammatical sense whatsoever. "of" is not a verb.
"Should" is the imperfect, and the imperfect can only be applied to a verb.

"I should have done" is the past imperfect of "I do". The past tense, technically speaking, is "I have done", then you add the imperfect, "I should have done."

Where the hell does "of" come into this?

What?
Should is the conditional of shall, a modal verb expressing intention. "Have" is another model verb marking the perfect. The verb is "to do".
"I have done" is the perfect.
"I should have done" is the intentional perfect.
The imperfect is "I would do" or more commonly "I used to do".
The past tense is "I did".

I also realise this is After Hours so: I should of done yore Ma!

And here was me worrying about whether my company would still be in existence this time next year.

Dionysus wrote: »

It's time for an AH poll on this as both versions appear to be widely used here.

I've always said 'should have' - e.g. 'I should have done that' - but the more I read AH the more I realise I could, possibly, be incorrect.

So, denizens of Afterhours: which is correct?

Why the fook is this a poll? It's not subjective, FFS!! :mad:

I can't believe this is still coming up here all the time.

On a related note, one that really bugs me and seems to be more common is when someone says/writes:
"If I had of got up early, I would have gone for a run."

It's so annoying because it's such a multi-layered mistake.
First, the person obviously means to say "If I had've got," short for "had have got."
But that would still be wrong, it's simply "If I had got." I've no idea why people add the "have/of."

I'm continuously amazed by the way so many people are unable to master some of the basics of their own language.

And that's my grammar lessons done for today.

Liam Byrne wrote: »

It's actually "If I had gotten...."

In American English, yes, but in British English the past participle of "get" is "got," so you'd say "I've got two dogs" or "I'd got..".

Of course here we're quite mid-Atlantic in our language, so we mix American and British English with Hiberno-English, so both "got" and "gotten" are correct, though "gotten" is more common.

lugha wrote: »

Perhaps it do be coming from Hiberno-English? It somehow has that sound about it.

Also, most of us learn our first language, primarily in an aural mode so it is hardly surprising that you will occasionally or even regularly see “being” rather than “been” or “taught” rather than “thought” etc.

Could be, the structure of Irish is often a little more convoluted than English, so that translates over to Hiberno-English, like "Is it yourself that's in it?" or "I've an awful hunger on me."

I also think people are just used to hearing "should," "would," and "could" followed by "have" in the past tense, so it sounds natural to follow the ""d" sound of "had" with "have" in the past as well.