Have or Of?

A very common mistake made by speakers and writers is to substitute "of" where "have" is the correct word. Mostly this occurs in speaking, due to a tendency to employ the use of an entirely appropriate contraction in conversation, as in "should've" for "should have", but the speaker may be mistakenly heard as saying "should of". Concerningly, there are an increasing number of instances where this error has been translated into writing.

Consider the following instances of incorrect usage:

Without realising it, Dad must of eaten the rest of the chocolate.

Grace could of slept in if the truck hadn't roared past our house.

In today's football match, Jack should of taken that easy mark.

I would of started for the trip earlier if I'd known how long it would take.

Simply by substituting the "of" for "have" in each of the bolded sections solves the problem.

Just before we start throwing "of" out of our language usage completely, I must offer a word or two in its defence. "Of" is very important when employed correctly. It is a preposition and can be used for the following purposes:

* to indicate material or contents - "a bag of rice"
* to indicate distance or separation - "the Post Office is south of the supermarket"
* to indicate possession - "a niece of mine", "he is a person of questionable character"
* to indicate source - "the poetry of Oodgeroo Noonuccal"
* to indicate identity - "the city of the Gold Coast"
* to indicate cause - "I cried tears of joy"
* instead of "about" - "tell me of your travels"

In short, "have" is a verb while "of" is a preposition. They are words which serve very different purposes and, for that reason, are not to be confused.

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