"Would of" or "would have"?

[Kire]

I always thought that "would have" is the proper use of this phrase, but I'm reading It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis and it says:

"And I wonder if Thad Stevens would of liked this either?"

Now it's a quote, so it might be vernacular, but the speaker is the hero of the book, who is a scholar.

Have I been too high-fallutin' thinking that "would have" is more proper (and prim) than "would of"?

What are the proper terms for the usage of it (past, present, future)? I'm so dumb.

[DavidDvorkin]

1. "Would of" is wrong

Not just less prim and proper. It's simply incorrect.

[petgoat]

2. I haven't read ICHH, so I don't know Lewis's attitude about his

hero.

But in the first chapter the narrator says "Think what it would have meant to them...." and Doremus'
line says "would of" twice:

"And I wonder if Thad Stevens would of liked this, either?" considered Doremus. "He'd of snarled."

It seems that Lewis sees a difference.

I use "would of" in dialogue sometimes. A lot of people, especially in the midwest, use it despite the
fact that it makes no sense. One of the many irrational cognitive dissonances in everyday life. "Of"
is a preposition; "have" is a verb.

Oh here's ICHH at Project Gutenberg for free: http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks03/0301001h.html

I love your blog Kire. I'll never forget the story you linked about a tower climber who was so badly
injured in a fall that he sensed that the emergency room doctors were just going to let him die. So
when the intake nurse asked him if he had any allergies he answered at the top of his lungs: "Yes!
Gravity!" And the doctors' attitude changed.

[EmmaP]

4. Argh!

Sorry to resurrect this, but this is a HUGE pet peeve of mine.

It is would have, should have, could have, might have, etc.

Would of (or anything similar) makes no damned sense. The reason people incorrectly write "would of" is because that's the way the contraction SOUNDS.... would've, should've, could've.

[MalachiConstant]

3. i'm pretty sure

that it is "would have." when you break it down "of" is a preposition and i'm not a grammar pro or anything, but i'm pretty sure that it's out of place.

[Orrex]

5. For what it's worth...

Lewis may have been phonetically representing what's now indicated as would've, which is obviously a contraction of the correct "would have."

[Taxloss]

6. It's "would have"

Unless you're using it in speech to denote a semi-literate character.

[Orrex]

7. For instance, you might use it in characterizing a fictional president

Hypothetically...

[stevietheman]

8. And it's "highfalutin" :) n/t

n/t

[Orrex]

10. If there were any wisdom in the world, it would be spelled "hi-falootin"

So where does this leave us?

[hyphenate]

9. Depends on what you are

writing. If you are writing dialogue, "would of" would come off as being the words of a person with little formal education, or in general conversation with younger people. It would not likely be used by someone who has had a higher education.

And that is also why "would have" would be the choice of the writer of such a piece, unless the piece is a narrative by a person of such a lower educational level. A few examples might be "Tom Sawyer" or "Huckleberry Finn" from Mark Twain, where the author of the novel is presumed to be one of these protagonists, and not the omniscient "God" voice of the actual writer.