The contraction for “could have” uses the apostrophe and the last two letters of “have.”
The contraction for “could have” is “could’ve.”
Because the “ ‘ve” sounds like “of,” a common mistake is to write “of” after “could.” That would be acceptable for dialogue, but in narrative, it should be written as “have” or ” ’ve.”
In narrative, “could” is followed by the present perfect (“have” plus the past participle).
In a negative sentence, this contraction follows the “n’t” with its own apostrophe, making a double contraction, “couldn’t’ve.”
Wictionary lists some interesting double contractions, including some which begin with an apostrophe.
Examples:
- We could have gone to the Denver Stock Show if the weather had not turned bad.
- We could’ve gone to the Denver Stock Show if the weather had not turned bad.
- (contraction=”could’ve”)
- They could have given us a better forecast, one that would make a difference in the drought.
- They could’ve given us a better forecast, one that would make a difference in the drought.
- (contraction=”could’ve”)
- Michael could have brought his 4WD pickup, but we couldnot have fit everyone in it.
- Michael could’ve brought his 4WD pickup, but we couldn’t’ve fit everyone in it.
- (first contraction=”could’ve”, second contraction = couldn’t’ve [“could” plus “n’t” plus ” ‘ve” with two apostrophes])