Writing for Business - A Whatis.com Blog » would have http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/writing-for-business Is your grammar as good as your code? Sat, 18 May 2013 18:30:09 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Would have, could have, should have — in a subjunctive mood http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/writing-for-business/would-have-could-have-should-have-in-a-subjunctive-mood/ http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/writing-for-business/would-have-could-have-should-have-in-a-subjunctive-mood/#comments Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:50:03 +0000 Ivy Wigmore http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/writing-for-business/would-have-could-have-should-have-in-a-subjunctive-mood/ Which is correct?
If I ______ known more about security when I started this job, I could have avoided some problems.
a. would have
b. had


Answer: b

Explanation:
Would have, could have, should have – it’s all about the subjunctive mood (which I always think sounds like a good title for a jazz tune). This sentence demonstrates the subjunctive conditional: If ____, then _____.

Oxford Journals offers an article on the subjective conditional.

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