Isn't the extra "have" unnecessary as "could've" already means "could have"? I think the correct way to say this is either "you could have had this" or "you could've had this".
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2"Could've have had" is ungrammatical. Where did you read this.? I can find 1 example on the web, a self-published erotic story on Tumblr (not exactly a high-quality source)– James KSep 3 at 14:11
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A friend said it while conversing.– genmegustaSep 4 at 7:01
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And was this friend a non-native speaker? Random things heard in conversation without content and uttered by strangers, people who are probably non-native speakers do not make for good questions. Lastly, how can we know that you didn't mishear?– Mari-Lou ASep 14 at 0:17
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I just wanted to confirm whether it was correct. I couldn't have misheard because we were texting.– genmegustaSep 15 at 5:10
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1If your friend is an English speaker it could be one of two things a) a typo b) his dialect. If it is b) please tell us which coubrty and more importantly his or her region.– Mari-Lou ASep 16 at 9:17
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1 Answer
"You could've have had this" is incorrect grammar. The extra "have" is not only unnecessary, it is forbidden. It is a plausible mistake for someone to make, especially in writing (doubled words are a common writing mistake). But it is absolutely no more than a mistake. The fix is, as you suggest, to remove either "have" or "'ve".
