Idiom of the Week

Expressions:

To have a head start.

To take a weight off your shoulders.

To have a gut feeling.

To be joined at the hips.

To have/to be an Achille's heel.

To find your feet.

To be weak at the knees.

My hands are tired.

To be a pain in the neck.

To be a sight for sore eyes.

Could Have/ Should Have/ Would Have

Could Have, Should Have, Would Have are known as Past Modals.

These past modal verbs are all used hypothetically, to talk about things that didn't really happen in the past or to express regrets about things that occured in the past.

Could have + past participle
1: Could have + past participle means that something was possible in the past, or you had the ability to do something in the past, but that you didn't do it.
I could have stayed up late, but I decided to go to bed early.
They could have won the race, but they didn't try hard enough.
Julie could have bought the book, but she borrowed it from the library instead.
He could have studied harder, but he was too lazy and that's why he failed the exam.

Couldn't have + past participle means that something wasn't possible in the past, even if you had wanted to do it.
I couldn't have arrived any earlier. There was a terrible traffic jam (= it was impossible for me to have arrived any earlier).
He couldn't have passed the exam, even if he had studied harder. It was a really, really difficult exam.

2: We use could have + past participle when we want to make a guess about something that happened in the past. (See also "Modal Verbs for Deduction in the Past"). In this case, we don't know if what we're saying is true or not true. We're just talking about our opinion of what maybe happened.
Why is John late?
He could have got stuck in traffic.
He could have forgotten that we were meeting today.
He could have overslept.

All of these sentences express deductions or guesses about a past situation.

We can also choose to use might have + past participle to mean the same thing:
He might have got stuck in traffic.
He might have forgotten that we were meeting today.
He might have got stuck in traffic.
(See "Modals Verbs for Deductions in the Past")

Should have + past participle
1: Should have + past participle can mean something that would have been a good idea, but that you didn't do it. It's like giving advice about the past when you say it to someone else, or regretting what you did or didn't do when you're talking about yourself.

Shouldn't have + past participle means that something wasn't a good idea, but you did it anyway.

I should have studied harder! (= I didn't study very hard and so I failed the exam. I'm sorry about this now.)
I should have gone to bed early (= I didn't go to bed early and now I'm tired).
I shouldn't have eaten so much cake! (= I did eat a lot of cake and now I don't feel good.)
You should have called me when you arrived (= you didn't call me and I was worried. I wish that you had called me).
John should have left early, then he wouldn't have missed the plane (= but he didn't leave early and so he did miss the plane).

2: We can also use should have + past participle to talk about something that, if everything is normal and okay, we think has already happened. But we're not certain that everything is fine, so we use 'should have' and not the present perfect or past simple. It's often used with 'by now'.
His plane should have arrived by now (= if everything is fine, the plane has arrived).
John should have finished work by now (= if everything is normal, John has finished work).

We can also use this to talk about something that would have happened if everything was fine, but hasn't happened.
Lucy should have arrived by now, but she hasn't.

Would have + past participle

1: Part of the third conditional.
If I had had enough money, I would have bought a car (but I didn't have enough money, so I didn't buy a car).

2: Because 'would' (and will) can also be used to show if you want to do something or not (volition), we can also use would have + past participle to talk about something you wanted to do but didn't. This is very similar to the third conditional, but we don't need an 'if clause'.
I would have gone to the party, but I was really busy.
(= I wanted to go to the party, but I didn't because I was busy. If I hadn't been so busy, I would have gone to the party.)
I would have called you, but I didn't know your number.
(= I wanted to call you but I didn't know your number, so I didn't call you.)
A: Nobody volunteered to help us with the fair
B: I would have helped you. I didn't know you needed help.
(= If I had known that you needed help, I would have helped you.)

taken from:

http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/could-have-should-have-would-have.html

Wishes (Past, Present, Future)

We use past tense forms to talk about wishes:

A.- We use past tense modals would and could to talk about wishes for the future:
I don’t like my work. I wish I could get a better job.
That’s a dreadful noise. I wish it would stop.
I always have to get home early. I wish my parents would let me stay out later.

B.- We use past tense forms to talk about wishes for the present:
I don’t like this place. I wish I lived in somewhere more interesting.
These seats are very uncomfortable. I wish we were travelling first class.
Everyone wishes they had more free time.
John wishes he wasn’t so busy.
I wish it wasn’t so cold.

C.- We use the past perfect to talk about wishes for the past:
I wish I had worked harder when I was at school.
Mary wishes she had listened to what her mother told her.
I wish I hadn’t spent so much money last month.

taken from:
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/verbs/wishes-and-hypotheses

Dynamic and Stative Verbs

Verbs in English can be classified into two categories: stative verbs and dynamic verbs. Dynamic verbs (sometimes referred to as "action verbs") usually describe actions we can take, or things that happen; stative verbs usually refer to a state or condition which is not changing or likely to change. The difference is important, because stative verbs cannot normally be used in the continuous (BE + ING) forms. This will explain the differences between the two types of verb, and give lots of examples of each kind.

Dynamic verbs
There are many types of dynamic verbs, but most of them describe activities or events which can begin and finish. 

Here are some examples:
Dynamic Verb       Type                               Examples

play                       activity                        She plays tennis every Friday.
                                                                 She's playing tennis right now.
melt                      process                       The snow melts every spring.
                                                                The snow is melting right now
hit                   momentary action           When one boxer hits another, brain damage can result. 

                                                                                                          (This suggests only ONE punch.)
                                                                When one boxer is hitting another, brain damage can result

                                                                                             (This suggests MANY repeated punches.)

Dynamic verbs, as you can see from the table above, can be used in the simple and perfect forms (plays, played, has played, had played) as well as the continuous or progressive forms (is playing, was playing, has been playing, had been playing).

Stative verbs
Stative verbs usually refer to a state or condition which is quite static or unchanging. They can be divided into verbs of perception or cognition (which refer to things in the mind), or verbs of relation (which describe the relationships between things). 

Here are some examples:
Stative Verb      Type                            Examples

hate                   perception                     I hate chocolate.
believe              perception                     She believes in UFOs.
contain              relation                         The box contains 24 cans of soda.
own                  relation                          John owns three motorbikes.

Note that we CANNOT use these verbs in the continuous (progressive) forms; you CAN'T say "*John is owning three cars." Owning is a state, not an action, so it is always in the simple form.

Example verbs
Here some common stative and dynamic verbs. The lists may help you to understand what types of verbs are likely to be stative and what types are commonly dynamic.
Stative Verbs love; hate; like; see; hear; sound; think (meaning "have an opinion"); mind (meaning "care about"); recognize; seem; have (meaning "own");prefer; doubt; consist of; mean
Dynamic Verbs eat; drink; go; type; read; write; listen; speak; watch; say; grow; work; sleep; cook; talk

Dynamic verbs, as you can see from the table above, can be used in the simple and perfect forms (plays, played, has played, had played) as well as the continuous or progressive forms (is playing, was playing, has been playing, had been playing).

Taken from:

http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/410/grammar/stat.htm

Modal Verbs for Expressing Deductions in the Past

Must have, Can't have, Couldn't have:

expressing past probability
Structure: modal verb + have + past participle
must have been, can't have gone, couldn't have gone, etc.
We use must have to express that we feel sure that something was true in the past.

They must have left early.
He must have already gone.
We use can't have or couldn't have to say that we believe something was impossible in the past. 

He can't have escaped through this window – it’s too small.
She can't have said that.
She couldn't have said that.

May / Might / Could have: 

expressing past probability
Structure: modal + have + past participle
may have been, could have gone, might have lost, etc.
We use may have, could have, might have to say that it was possible that something happened in the past (but we are not 100% sure). 

He may have missed the bus.
The road might have been blocked. (= ‘I think the road was blocked, but I’m not 100% sure.’)
The negatives are may not have and might not have. We don’t use couldn’t have in the same way. He may not have left yet.
I might not have given her the money; I’m not sure.
I could not have given her the money, I’m not sure. (incorrect)

taken from:

http://speakspeak.com/resources/english-grammar-rules/modal-verbs/past-probability-must-have-cant-have-couldnt-have

Adjective Clauses

Here is a brief explanation of adjective clauses and relative pronouns.

An adjective clause is used to describe a noun:
The car, which was red, belonged to Young-Hee.

A relative pronoun is usually used to introduce an adjective clause:
Young-Hee, who is a Korean student, lives in Victoria.

The main relative pronouns are:
Pronoun     Use                                                               Example

Who     used for humans in the subject position.      Hans, who is an architect, lives in Berlin.

Whom  used for humans in the object position.  Martin, whom Hans knows well, is an interior                                                                                                                                                             decorator 
Which   used for things and animals in the subject   Susy has a dog which follows her everywhere 
              or object position.               

That     used for humans, animals and things,       Maria is decorating a house that Hans designed 

             in the subject or object position

Whose    used for humans, animals and things in    Susy, whose dog follows her everywhere, is an 

                the subject or object position to show      animal lover.               
                possession

There are two main kinds of adjective clause:
1. Non-defining clauses
Non-defining clauses give extra information about the noun, but they are not essential:

The desk in the corner, which is covered in books, is mine.

Explanation: We don't need this information in order to understand the sentence. “The desk in the corner is mine” is a good sentence on its own — we still know which desk is referred to. Note that non-defining clauses are usually separated by commas, and “that” is not usually used in this kind of context.

2. Defining clauses
Defining clauses give essential information about the noun:

The package that arrived this morning is on the desk.

Explanation: We need this information in order to understand the sentence. Without the relative clause, we don't know which package is being referred to. Note that “that” is often used in defining relative clauses, and they are not separated by commas.

Taken from:
http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/410/grammar/adj.htm

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