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Many people use "should of" and "would of" which is wrong, where "should have" and "would have" would be right.

(wrong) - You should of gone to the party.

(right) - You should have gone to the party.

Even more people use "if" in a wrong way, where "whether" would be right.

(wrong) - I don't know if she went to the party

(right) - I don't know whether she went to the party

It seems that at some point enough people can use some wrong grammar that they reinforce each other, and it becomes out of control.

My question:

Does this wrong grammar ever become right? If it does, at what point does it? Is it when the majority of native speakers use this wrong grammar?

  • 3
    It's not a grammar error per se, but a phonetic spelling of should've, would've. And whether is fine there. whether she went [or not]. – KarlG Apr 15 '18 at 07:58
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    I cant' see anything wrong with either your 3rd or 4th examples. Both "if" and "whether" are possible in subordinate interrogative clauses like these, with "whether" being a tad more formal than "if". – BillJ Apr 15 '18 at 08:12
  • My English teacher always said that whether needs an alternative supplied by or. I suppose "or not" may be omitted by ellipsis, but it grates for me. – Andrew Leach Apr 15 '18 at 09:08
  • @AndrewLeach I feel it depends on what the alternatives are. "whether the ball is red or green" doesn't seem to fit with "or not". –  Apr 15 '18 at 13:12
  • No, but you have or there. "Or not" provides the alternative which whether needs: "whether the ball is red or not". I would say that that use of whether actually needs an alternative to be specified, which could be something like "or green" or "or not". – Andrew Leach Apr 15 '18 at 13:14
  • I have actually had a genuine heated argument over "apostrophe-ve" being replaced by "of," - with me insisting "of" was completely wrong and the other equally insistent "of" was totally acceptable. In light of that, I think this is a fair question, well-stated, and deserving of an answer. – cobaltduck Apr 15 '18 at 13:19
  • When it is used by someone you respect/idolize. – Hot Licks Apr 15 '18 at 13:24

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