Etymology : Middle English shal , from Old English sceal; akin to Old High German scal ought to, must, Lithuanian skola debt
Pronunciation : sh&l, shal
Function : verb
Date : before 12th century
1. must (indicating duty or obligation); would (softening the statement); would be (expressing the conditional nature of the connected statement). should\should\ , imp. of shall. [oe. sholde, shulde, scholde, schulde, as. scolde, sceolde. see:
shall.] used as an auxiliary verb, to express a conditional or contingent act or state, or as a supposition of an actual fact; also, to express moral obligation (see:
shall); e. g.: they should have come last week; if i should go; i should think you could go. "you have done that you should be sorry for.".
2. Used as an auxiliary verb, to express a conditional or contingent act or state, or as a supposition of an actual fact; also, to express moral obligation ; e. g.: they should have come last week; if I should go; I should think you could go.
3. To owe; to be under obligation for.
4. To be obliged; must.
5. As an auxiliary, shall indicates a duty or necessity whose obligation is derived from the person speaking; as, you shall go; he shall go; that is, I order or promise your going.
6. It thus ordinarily expresses, in the second and third persons, a command, a threat, or a promise.
7. If the auxillary be emphasized, the command is made more imperative, the promise or that more positive and sure.
8. It is also employed in the language of prophecy; as, "the day shall come when . . . , " since a promise or threat and an authoritative prophecy nearly coincide in significance.
9. In shall with the first person, the necessity of the action is sometimes implied as residing elsewhere than in the speaker; as, I shall suffer; we shall see; and there is always a less distinct and positive assertion of his volition than is indicated by will. "I shall go" implies nearly a simple futurity; more exactly, a foretelling or an expectation of my going, in which, naturally enough, a certain degree of plan or intention may be included; emphasize the shall, and the event is described as certain to occur, and the expression approximates in meaning to our emphatic "I will go." In a question, the relation of speaker and source of obligation is of course transferred to the person addressed; as, "Shall you go?" ; "Shall he go?" i. e., "Do you require or promise his going?" The same relation is transferred to either second or third person in such phrases as "You say, or think, you shall go;" "He says, or thinks, he shall go." After a conditional conjunction shall is used in all persons to express futurity simply; as, if I, you, or he shall say they are right.
10. Should is everywhere used in the same connection and the same senses as shall, as its imperfect.
11. It also expresses duty or moral obligation; as, he should do it whether he will or not.
12. In the early English, and hence in our English Bible, shall is the auxiliary mainly used, in all the persons, to express simple futurity. Shall may be used elliptically; thus, with an adverb or other word expressive of motion go may be omitted.
13. should WEAK STRONG Should is a modal verb. It is used with the base form of a verb.
14. You use should when you are saying what would be the right thing to do or the right state for something to be in. I should exercise more The diet should be maintained unchanged for about a year He's never going to be able to forget it. And I don't think he should Sometimes I am not as brave as I should be Should our children be taught to swim at school?.
15. You use should to give someone an order to do something, or to report an official order. All visitors should register with the British Embassy The European Commission ruled that British Aerospace should pay back tens of millions of pounds.
16. If you say that something should have happened, you mean that it did not happen, but that you wish it had. If you say that something should not have happened, you mean that it did happen, but that you wish it had not. I should have gone this morning but I was feeling a bit ill You should have written to the area manager again I shouldn't have said what I did.
17. You use should when you are saying that something is probably the case or will probably happen in the way you are describing. If you say that something should have happened by a particular time, you mean that it will probably have happened by that time. You should have no problem with reading this language The doctor said it will take six weeks and I should be fine by then.
18. You use should in questions when you are asking someone for advice, permission, or information. Should I or shouldn't I go to university? Please could you advise me what I should do? Should I go back to the motel and wait for you to telephone?.
19. You say `I should', usually with the expression `if I were you', when you are giving someone advice by telling them what you would do if you were in their position. I should look out if I were you!.
20. You use should in conditional clauses when you are talking about things that might happen. If you should be fired, your health and pension benefits will not be automatically cut off Should you buy a home from Lovell, the company promises to buy it back at the same price after three years.
21. You use should in `that' clauses after certain verbs, nouns, and adjectives when you are talking about a future event or situation. He raised his glass and indicated that I should do the same My father was very keen that I should fulfill my potential.
22. vagueness You use should in expressions such as I should think and I should imagine to indicate that you think something is true but you are not sure. I should think it's going to rain soon.
23. politeness You use should in expressions such as I should like and I should be happy to show politeness when you are saying what you want to do, or when you are requesting, offering, or accepting something. I should be happy if you would bring them this evening.
24. emphasis You use should in expressions such as You should have seen us and You should have heard him to emphasize how funny, shocking, or impressive something that you experienced was. You should have heard him last night!.