Could/ Would Have??

[band]

Hi how are you..? please could you help and guide me to the right answer? I was watching a movie and in that scene a boy tried to kill his mother and she want to protect him no matter what..someone killed the boy then the mother cried and blamed him for what he did.{ After what happened he said : he was gonna to kill her} and his friend said to him{ She would have died to see him live} My question is why he didn't use could have instead of would?? I was googling I found in Yahoo answer this answer here: https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20180425143843AAZ05UH

I am so confused..help me please ):

[woofgang]

"Would have" mean it was her choice....she would give her life to protect her son
"Could have" means that it was a possibility, not that she chose it

[band]

thank you MR.Woofgang for your answer..

so what do you think about the guy who answered in YAHOO
he said:{could have died is the only acceptable word here for native speakers}
??

[bookbinder]

You are describing here two different situations, which require two different verbs. In situation 1 (the mother in the movie), the verb 'would' is correctly used. 'Would have' expresses a sense of will, or a desire to make something happen. In situation 2 (the car accident in Yahoo), 'could have' expresses a possibility that is outside the subject's control. woofgang's answer is correct.

[geevo]

OK, band, in the simplest terms

In a specific set of circumstances:

'Would' indicates a certainty
'Could" indicates a possibility

[Prudie]

grammatically could comes from the verb can - to be able, would comes from the verb will - to choose to make something definitely happen
He would have died - a definite unless..
He could have died - only a possibility

[woofgang]

what to I think? I think they were wrong.