Why do so many ppl say ‘should have went’ instead of ‘should have gone’?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Regional, but also English grammar is weird.

How is it weird? You were either taught proper English, or not. This should have been taught starting in the 1st grade. Even if you hear it at home or "in the streets" what you're learning in school trumps all of that.

Hahahaha no. "proper English," ha. Just because some dudes started taking advantage of the social-climbing new middle class after the industrial revolution doesn't mean there is a proper or improper English. Yes, the gatekeeping academia of times past has essentially controlled the rules for writing and we basically have to follow them if we want to get respect (this is called respectability politics, by the way), but that is an inherently subjective standard.

Also, yes English is absolutely weird. English is a bizarre amalgamation of various languages and doesn't have the much simpler origins of languages like Spanish.

Do you feel that spelling should also be a creative enterprise with no fixed rules? What about math?

Written language was around for thousands of years before spelling was standardized. Societies still thrived!

Yes there are benefits to standardization; writing “fish” as “ghoti” would be a detriment to communication. But to say that English dialects must conform to the arbitrary rules of standard American English is nonsensical and—prepare yourself—an idea rooted in racism.

[Anonymous]

Oh and I’m not even answering the math question. 🙄

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's a regional thing. I grew up in the South, and nobody says it down there. I didn't hear it until graduate school in the Midwest, where plenty of people said it - and we were in graduate school, so all of these people had college educations. Can't exactly pin down which regions use it, though. Midwesterners, for sure, but I've also heard people from NY and PA say it.

Speaking as a NYer, it's a lack of education and/or poor reader who says that. The "should of" people say it, I think, because they don't read, nor do the people around them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Regional, but also English grammar is weird.

How is it weird? You were either taught proper English, or not. This should have been taught starting in the 1st grade. Even if you hear it at home or "in the streets" what you're learning in school trumps all of that.

Hahahaha no. "proper English," ha. Just because some dudes started taking advantage of the social-climbing new middle class after the industrial revolution doesn't mean there is a proper or improper English. Yes, the gatekeeping academia of times past has essentially controlled the rules for writing and we basically have to follow them if we want to get respect (this is called respectability politics, by the way), but that is an inherently subjective standard.

Also, yes English is absolutely weird. English is a bizarre amalgamation of various languages and doesn't have the much simpler origins of languages like Spanish.

Do you feel that spelling should also be a creative enterprise with no fixed rules? What about math?

So when and where was English standardized? If you think there is some immutable standard, then should we stop teaching writers like Chaucer and Shakespeare who can’t spell and make constant grammatical mistakes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I assumed it was related to lack of education.

Your assumption is a racist one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I assumed it was related to lack of education.

Your assumption is a racist one.

True.

Consider the fact most of America’s childhood grammar lessons were actually classes on white supremacy.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/opinion-proper-english-grammar-racism_n_5ba91ec9e4b069d5f9d549cd

[Anonymous]

Lack of grammar education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lack of grammar education.

+1 so true

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lack of grammar education.

+1 so true

Okay so people who actually understand grammar and the English language: nothing we say will make a difference. These people are not educate-able.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lack of grammar education.

+1 so true

Okay so people who actually understand grammar and the English language: nothing we say will make a difference. These people are not educate-able.

Some people understand that English is a living language spoken across the globe with no central authority to determine what is or is not correct. The closest we have to a French Academy is probably English schools teaching King’s English, but if that is the correct version of the language, then the dialects taught in the US are necessarily incorrect.

[Anonymous]

This doesn’t bother me nearly as much as “should of ” for “should have.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lack of grammar education.

+1 so true

Okay so people who actually understand grammar and the English language: nothing we say will make a difference. These people are not educate-able.

Some people understand that English is a living language spoken across the globe with no central authority to determine what is or is not correct. The closest we have to a French Academy is probably English schools teaching King’s English, but if that is the correct version of the language, then the dialects taught in the US are necessarily incorrect.

You and I agree! I was laughing that several commenters painstakingly explained the problems with prescriptive grammar and others are still saying “lack of education!!”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This doesn’t bother me nearly as much as “should of ” for “should have.”

- yet another example of racism masquerading as “proper grammar.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This doesn’t bother me nearly as much as “should of ” for “should have.”

I'm from NJ. I definitely say "should've" when I'm speaking informally and it probably sounds like "should of" ? My English isn't that poor (740 SAT), obviously I would never write out "should of"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a regional thing. I grew up in the South, and nobody says it down there. I didn't hear it until graduate school in the Midwest, where plenty of people said it - and we were in graduate school, so all of these people had college educations. Can't exactly pin down which regions use it, though. Midwesterners, for sure, but I've also heard people from NY and PA say it.

Speaking as a NYer, it's a lack of education and/or poor reader who says that. The "should of" people say it, I think, because they don't read, nor do the people around them.

We know that literacy skills are linked- difficulties with spelling are often a sign of trouble with reading. Should’ve sounds like should of, so I think it is a case of hearing it used at home. I think it is a more noticeable error when used in business communication than in speech.