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Oxford Online English, How to Use Should in English - English Modal Verbs

How to Use Should in English - English Modal Verbs

Hi, I'm Oli.

Welcome to Oxford Online English!

In this lesson, you can learn about using the modal verb 'should' in English.

Do you know how to use 'should' in English?

Like most modal verbs, 'should' has many different meanings and can be used in many different

ways.

In this lesson, you can learn how to use 'should' correctly and naturally in different situations.

Let's start with a simple question:

What does 'should' mean?

This question sounds simple, but when you think about it, it's not so easy to answer.

Look at a sentence:

"You shouldn't work so hard."

Could you change this sentence, so that you keep the same meaning, but without using 'should'?

Think about it.

There's more than one possible answer; here's one:

"I think it would be better for you not to work so hard."

Here's another:

"I don't think it's a good idea for you to work so hard."

These are not the only two; there are more possibilities.

From these examples, you can see that when you use 'should', you're talking about what

you think is right, or what you think the best idea for someone.

For example, if I say:

"You shouldn't eat mushrooms if you don't know what kind they are."

I mean that it's best for you not to eat mushrooms if you aren't sure what they are.

After all, they might be poisonous.

Now, we're going to look at different meanings of should in more detail.

Keep the ideas from this section in mind through this lesson.

Hopefully they'll make it easier to connect the different ideas you're about to see!

Part two: using 'should' to give advice.

This is one of the most common ways to use 'should': giving advice to other people.

For example:

"You shouldn't eat pizza for dinner every night."

"You should watch “Mad Men”; it's an interesting show."

In these cases, I'm giving you advice—telling you what I think is a good idea for you to

do.

Easy enough, right?

Try to think of your own examples.

What kind of things do we give advice about?

Many things: work, study, hobbies, dating, lifestyle…

Pause the video and practise: give yourself one piece of advice!

Ok?

Let's move on.

Part three: using 'should' to express your opinion.

You can use 'should' to say what you think is the right thing for someone else to do.

For example:

"He should tell her how he feels."

"I think she should apply for that job."

This is quite similar to giving advice, except that you're talking about a third person.

You can also use 'should' in this way to talk about more general subjects.

For example:

"The government should raise taxes on the rich."

"Everybody who works should get four weeks' paid holiday a year."

Do you agree with these ideas?

Try to think of one more example on a different topic.

What subjects do you have strong opinions on?

Pause the video and make a sentence with 'should'.

Say it out loud!

Up to here, we've seen how to use 'should' to talk about the present or the future.

However, you can also use 'should' to talk about the past.

Let's see how:

Part four: using 'should' to criticise past mistakes.

Do you know how to use 'should' in the past?

What do you have to add after the verb?

Let's see an example:

"You should have asked me for help."

You can see that to use 'should' in the past, you need to add 'have' plus a past participle

after the verb 'should'.

Let's practise this quickly.

Can you complete these two sentences to make them past?

"He should (book) the tickets earlier."

"They shouldn't (spend) so much money on a car."

Think about your answers.

Pause the video if you need time.

Let's check:

"He should have booked the tickets earlier."

"They shouldn't have spent so much money on a car."

Next, let's think about what 'should' means in these sentences.

We use 'should' in this way to talk about mistakes in the past; often, we use 'should'

in this way to criticise ourselves or other people.

For example:

"You should have studied harder for your exam!"

Meaning: you didn't study hard for your exam, and I think this was a mistake.

"I shouldn't have told her."

Meaning: I told her, but I wish I hadn't; it was a mistake to tell her.

What about you?

Can you think of something you should have done differently in the past?

Try to make your own example sentences!

For extra practice, you could even write your sentences down.

Now, we have one more meaning of 'should' to look at:

Part five: using 'should' to talk about probability.

We said at the beginning that you use 'should' to talk about the right thing to do.

That's true for all the meanings of 'should' we've seen until now.

However, there's one exception, one meaning of 'should' which doesn't fit this pattern.

Look at two sentences.

Can you see what 'should' means?

"There should be some milk left."

"He should be here soon."

Remember: 'should' here has a completely different meaning to everything we've seen so far.

Can you work it out?

In these sentences, 'should' expresses probability.

If I say:

"There should be some milk left."

I mean that I think there's probably some milk left.

By probably I mean ‘more than 50% chance.'

So I might say this if I remember buying milk a few days ago, and I think there's some

left, but I'm not 100% certain; I think there's probably still some milk in the

fridge.

In our other example, if I say:

"He should be here soon."

I mean that he'll probably get here soon.

For example, imagine your friend is coming to visit you.

You know that his train arrives at 12.00 and it takes twenty minutes to get to your house

from the station.

The time now is 12.20.

You could say, "he should be here soon."

How do you know if 'should' means “I think this is the right thing” or “I think this

is probable?”

It depends on the context.

Usually, it'll be obvious.

For example, if I say:

"You should definitely go to the British Museum if you're in London.

It's really worth a visit."

It's clear here that 'should' means “I think it's a good idea for you to go to

the British Museum” and not, “I think you'll probably go to the British Museum.”

That just doesn't make sense.

Similarly, if I say:

"It should take about 30 minutes to get there by car."

…then 'should' clearly expresses probability.

There's no way for this sentence to be advice or criticism, or anything like that.

Now, you've seen all the possible meanings of 'should'.

Finally, let's review what you've learned in this class.

'Should' is mostly used to express what you think is right or what you think is the best

thing.

So, you can use 'should' to give advice or to express your opinion about different topics.

Remember that 'should' is not the same as 'must' or 'have to'.

When you use 'should', you aren't talking about obligations or things which are necessary,

you're talking about what you think is best.

You can also use 'should' + 'have' + past participle to talk about the past.

We use 'should' in this way to criticise past mistakes.

There's one way to use 'should' which doesn't fit this pattern: 'should' can mean that something

is probable.

You need to use the context to work out what 'should' means, although it's quite obvious

in most cases.

Remember that probable here has a specific meaning: it means the chance of something

happening is higher than 50%.

That's the end of the lesson.

I hope you learned something new about what 'should' means and how to use it.

You can find more great free English lessons on our website: Oxford Online English dot

com.

Thanks for watching!

See you next time!

How to Use Should in English - English Modal Verbs Wie man Should auf Englisch verwendet - Englische Modalverben How to Use Should in English - Verbos modales en inglés Comment utiliser "should" en anglais - Verbes modaux en anglais Come usare Should in inglese - Verbi modali inglesi Shouldを英語でどう使うか - 英語のモーダル動詞 영어에서 Should를 사용하는 방법 - 영어 조동사 Should gebruiken in het Engels - Engelse modale werkwoorden Jak używać Should w języku angielskim - Angielskie czasowniki modalne Como usar Should em inglês - Verbos modais em inglês Как использовать "Should" в английском языке - Английские модальные глаголы İngilizcede Should Nasıl Kullanılır - İngilizce Modal Fiiller Як використовувати Should в англійській мові - модальні дієслова англійської мови 如何在英语中使用 Should - 英语情态动词 如何在英語中使用 Should - 英語情態動詞

Hi, I'm Oli.

Welcome to Oxford Online English!

In this lesson, you can learn about using the modal verb 'should' in English. In dieser Lektion können Sie lernen, wie man das Modalverb „sollte“ auf Englisch verwendet.

Do you know how to use 'should' in English?

Like most modal verbs, 'should' has many different meanings and can be used in many different Как и большинство модальных глаголов, «should» имеет много разных значений и может использоваться во многих разных смыслах.

ways. formas.

In this lesson, you can learn how to use 'should' correctly and naturally in different situations.

Let's start with a simple question:

What does 'should' mean?

This question sounds simple, but when you think about it, it's not so easy to answer. Этот вопрос кажется простым, но, если подумать, на него не так просто ответить.

Look at a sentence:

"You shouldn't work so hard." "Du solltest nicht so hart arbeiten." "너무 열심히 일하지 마세요." — Тебе не следует так много работать.

Could you change this sentence, so that you keep the same meaning, but without using 'should'? Könnten Sie diesen Satz so ändern, dass er dieselbe Bedeutung behält, aber ohne „sollte“? Не могли бы вы изменить это предложение так, чтобы сохранить то же значение, но без использования «следует»?

Think about it. Denk darüber nach. Pensem nisso.

There's more than one possible answer; here's one:

"I think it would be better for you not to work so hard."

Here's another:

"I don't think it's a good idea for you to work so hard."

These are not the only two; there are more possibilities. この2つだけではなく、もっと多くの可能性がある。 이 두 가지 외에도 더 많은 가능성이 있습니다. Это не единственные два; есть больше возможностей.

From these examples, you can see that when you use 'should', you're talking about what

you think is right, or what you think the best idea for someone. o que acha que é correto, ou o que acha que é a melhor ideia para alguém. вы считаете правильным, или то, что вы считаете лучшей идеей для кого-то.

For example, if I say:

"You shouldn't eat mushrooms if you don't know what kind they are." "Man sollte keine Pilze essen, wenn man nicht weiß, um welche Art es sich handelt." "キノコの種類を知らない人は食べない方がいい" "Вы не должны есть грибы, если не знаете, какие они".

I mean that it's best for you not to eat mushrooms if you aren't sure what they are. Я имею в виду, что вам лучше не есть грибы, если вы не уверены, что это такое.

After all, they might be poisonous. 毒があるかもしれない。 Juk jie gali būti nuodingi. Ведь они могут быть ядовитыми.

Now, we're going to look at different meanings of should in more detail. 이제 'should'의 다양한 의미를 좀 더 자세히 살펴보겠습니다. Теперь мы рассмотрим различные значения слова should более подробно.

Keep the ideas from this section in mind through this lesson. Behalten Sie die Ideen aus diesem Abschnitt in dieser Lektion im Hinterkopf. 이 단원의 아이디어를 이 레슨 내내 염두에 두세요. Держите в голове идеи из этого раздела на протяжении всего урока. Зберігайте ідеї з цього розділу в пам’яті протягом цього уроку.

Hopefully they'll make it easier to connect the different ideas you're about to see! Hoffentlich machen sie es einfacher, die verschiedenen Ideen zu verbinden, die Sie gleich sehen werden! 願わくば、これからご覧になるさまざまなアイデアをより簡単に結びつけていただきたい! 앞으로 보게 될 다양한 아이디어를 더 쉽게 연결할 수 있기를 바랍니다! Надеюсь, они облегчат соединение различных идей, которые вы собираетесь увидеть!

Part two: using 'should' to give advice. Zweiter Teil: „sollte“ verwenden, um Ratschläge zu erteilen. Segunda parte: utilizar "should" para dar conselhos. Часть вторая: использование глагола «следует» в совете.

This is one of the most common ways to use 'should': giving advice to other people. Это один из самых распространенных способов употребления слова «следует»: давать советы другим людям.

For example:

"You shouldn't eat pizza for dinner every night." "Du solltest nicht jeden Abend Pizza zum Abendessen essen." «Вы не должны есть пиццу на ужин каждый вечер».

"You should watch “Mad Men”; it's an interesting show." „Du solltest dir „Mad Men“ ansehen; es ist eine interessante Serie.“

In these cases, I'm giving you advice—telling you what I think is a good idea for you to 이러한 경우 다음과 같이 조언을 드리는 것이 좋다고 생각되는 사항을 알려드립니다.

do.

Easy enough, right? Достаточно легко, верно?

Try to think of your own examples. Tente pensar nos seus próprios exemplos.

What kind of things do we give advice about? Zu welchen Themen beraten wir? 어떤 종류의 조언을 제공하나요? О каких вещах мы даем советы?

Many things: work, study, hobbies, dating, lifestyle… Viele Dinge: Arbeit, Studium, Hobbys, Dating, Lifestyle…

Pause the video and practise: give yourself one piece of advice! Halten Sie das Video an und üben Sie: Geben Sie sich selbst einen Rat!

Ok?

Let's move on.

Part three: using 'should' to express your opinion. Часть третья: использование глагола «следует» для выражения своего мнения.

You can use 'should' to say what you think is the right thing for someone else to do. Du kannst „sollte“ verwenden, um zu sagen, was deiner Meinung nach das Richtige für jemand anderen ist. Вы можете использовать глагол «следует», чтобы сказать, что, по вашему мнению, правильно делать другому человеку.

For example: Por exemplo:

"He should tell her how he feels." "Er sollte ihr sagen, wie er sich fühlt." «Он должен сказать ей, что он чувствует».

"I think she should apply for that job." "Ich denke, sie sollte sich um diesen Job bewerben." «Я думаю, что она должна подать заявку на эту работу».

This is quite similar to giving advice, except that you're talking about a third person. Das ist dem Ratgeben ziemlich ähnlich, außer dass du über eine dritte Person sprichst. 이것은 제삼자에 대해 이야기한다는 점을 제외하면 조언을 하는 것과 매우 유사합니다. Это очень похоже на совет, за исключением того, что вы говорите о третьем лице.

You can also use 'should' in this way to talk about more general subjects. Du kannst „sollte“ auch auf diese Weise verwenden, um über allgemeinere Themen zu sprechen.

For example:

"The government should raise taxes on the rich."

"Everybody who works should get four weeks' paid holiday a year." "Jeder, der arbeitet, soll vier Wochen bezahlten Urlaub im Jahr bekommen." 「働いている人は全員、年に4週間の有給休暇を取るべきだ。 "일하는 모든 사람은 1년에 4주간의 유급 휴가를 받아야 합니다." «Каждый, кто работает, должен получать четыре недели оплачиваемого отпуска в год».

Do you agree with these ideas?

Try to think of one more example on a different topic. Tente pensar em mais um exemplo sobre um tema diferente.

What subjects do you have strong opinions on? Zu welchen Themen haben Sie eine starke Meinung? 어떤 주제에 대해 강한 의견을 가지고 있나요? По каким вопросам у вас твердое мнение?

Pause the video and make a sentence with 'should'.

Say it out loud! Sag es laut!

Up to here, we've seen how to use 'should' to talk about the present or the future. Bis hierher haben wir gesehen, wie man „sollte“ verwendet, um über die Gegenwart oder die Zukunft zu sprechen. До сих пор мы видели, как использовать «должен», чтобы говорить о настоящем или будущем.

However, you can also use 'should' to talk about the past.

Let's see how:

Part four: using 'should' to criticise past mistakes. Teil vier: Verwendung von „sollte“, um vergangene Fehler zu kritisieren. パート4:過去の過ちを批判するために「べきだ」を使う。 Часть четвертая: использование слова «следует» для критики прошлых ошибок.

Do you know how to use 'should' in the past? Sabe como utilizar "should" no passado?

What do you have to add after the verb? Was muss man nach dem Verb hinzufügen?

Let's see an example:

"You should have asked me for help." "Du hättest mich um Hilfe bitten sollen." — Тебе следовало попросить меня о помощи.

You can see that to use 'should' in the past, you need to add 'have' plus a past participle Sie können sehen, dass Sie, um „sollte“ in der Vergangenheit zu verwenden, „haben“ plus ein Partizip Perfekt hinzufügen müssen

after the verb 'should'.

Let's practise this quickly. Lass uns das schnell üben.

Can you complete these two sentences to make them past? Можете ли вы закончить эти два предложения, чтобы сделать их в прошлом?

"He should (book) the tickets earlier." "Er sollte die Tickets früher (buchen)." 「彼はもっと早くチケットを予約すべきだ。 «Он должен (забронировать) билеты раньше».

"They shouldn't (spend) so much money on a car." "Sie sollten nicht so viel Geld für ein Auto ausgeben." "彼らは(車に)そんなにお金を使うべきではない" "Não deviam (gastar) tanto dinheiro num carro."

Think about your answers.

Pause the video if you need time.

Let's check:

"He should have booked the tickets earlier."

"They shouldn't have spent so much money on a car." "Sie hätten nicht so viel Geld für ein Auto ausgeben sollen."

Next, let's think about what 'should' means in these sentences. Теперь давайте подумаем, что означает «должен» в этих предложениях.

We use 'should' in this way to talk about mistakes in the past; often, we use 'should' Wir verwenden „sollte“ auf diese Weise, um über Fehler in der Vergangenheit zu sprechen; oft verwenden wir 'sollte'

in this way to criticise ourselves or other people. desta forma para nos criticarmos a nós próprios ou a outras pessoas.

For example:

"You should have studied harder for your exam!" "Du hättest härter für deine Prüfung lernen sollen!" «Ты должен был усерднее готовиться к экзамену!»

Meaning: you didn't study hard for your exam, and I think this was a mistake. Das heißt: Du hast nicht fleißig für deine Prüfung gelernt, und ich denke, das war ein Fehler.

"I shouldn't have told her." "Ich hätte es ihr nicht sagen sollen." «Я не должен был говорить ей».

Meaning: I told her, but I wish I hadn't; it was a mistake to tell her. Значение: я сказал ей, но лучше бы я этого не делал; было ошибкой сказать ей.

What about you? Was ist mit Ihnen?

Can you think of something you should have done differently in the past? Fällt Ihnen etwas ein, was Sie früher hätten anders machen sollen?

Try to make your own example sentences!

For extra practice, you could even write your sentences down. Für zusätzliche Übung könnten Sie Ihre Sätze sogar aufschreiben. Para praticar mais, pode até escrever as suas frases.

Now, we have one more meaning of 'should' to look at: Jetzt haben wir noch eine weitere Bedeutung von „sollte“, die wir uns ansehen sollten:

Part five: using 'should' to talk about probability. Teil fünf: Verwendung von „sollte“, um über Wahrscheinlichkeit zu sprechen.

We said at the beginning that you use 'should' to talk about the right thing to do. Wir haben am Anfang gesagt, dass man „sollte“ verwendet, um über das Richtige zu sprechen. В начале мы сказали, что вы используете «должен», когда говорите о том, что нужно делать.

That's true for all the meanings of 'should' we've seen until now. Das gilt für alle Bedeutungen von „sollte“, die wir bisher gesehen haben. それは、これまで見てきた『べき』の意味すべてに当てはまる。 Это верно для всех значений слова «следует», которые мы видели до сих пор.

However, there's one exception, one meaning of 'should' which doesn't fit this pattern. Es gibt jedoch eine Ausnahme, eine Bedeutung von „sollte“, die nicht in dieses Muster passt. Однако есть одно исключение, одно значение слова «следует», которое не соответствует этому шаблону.

Look at two sentences. Sehen Sie sich zwei Sätze an.

Can you see what 'should' means? Consegues perceber o que significa "should"? Вы понимаете, что означает «должен»?

"There should be some milk left." "Es sollte noch etwas Milch übrig sein." 「ミルクが残っているはずだ "Powinno zostać trochę mleka." «Должно остаться немного молока».

"He should be here soon." "Er sollte bald hier sein." 「もうすぐ来るはずだ — Он должен скоро быть здесь.

Remember: 'should' here has a completely different meaning to everything we've seen so far. Denken Sie daran: „sollte“ hat hier eine ganz andere Bedeutung als alles, was wir bisher gesehen haben. Помните: «следует» здесь имеет совершенно другое значение, чем все, что мы видели до сих пор.

Can you work it out? Kannst du es erarbeiten? Вы можете решить это?

In these sentences, 'should' expresses probability. In diesen Sätzen drückt „sollte“ eine Wahrscheinlichkeit aus.

If I say:

"There should be some milk left." «Должно остаться немного молока».

I mean that I think there's probably some milk left. Ich meine, ich denke, es ist wahrscheinlich noch etwas Milch übrig. つまり、まだミルクが残っていると思うんだ。 Я имею в виду, что я думаю, что, вероятно, осталось немного молока.

By probably I mean ‘more than 50% chance.' Por "provavelmente" quero dizer "com mais de 50% de hipóteses". Вероятно, я имею в виду «вероятность более 50%».

So I might say this if I remember buying milk a few days ago, and I think there's some Also könnte ich das sagen, wenn ich mich erinnere, dass ich vor ein paar Tagen Milch gekauft habe, und ich denke, es gibt welche Так что я могу сказать это, если вспомню, как покупал молоко несколько дней назад, и я думаю,

left, but I'm not 100% certain; I think there's probably still some milk in the

fridge. Kühlschrank.

In our other example, if I say:

"He should be here soon." "Er sollte bald hier sein."

I mean that he'll probably get here soon. Ich meine, dass er wahrscheinlich bald hier sein wird. Я имею в виду, что он, вероятно, скоро прибудет сюда.

For example, imagine your friend is coming to visit you. Stellen Sie sich zum Beispiel vor, Ihr Freund kommt Sie besuchen. Например, представьте, что ваш друг приходит к вам в гости.

You know that his train arrives at 12.00 and it takes twenty minutes to get to your house Sabe que o comboio dele chega às 12h00 e que demora vinte minutos a chegar a sua casa Ты знаешь, что его поезд прибывает в 12.00 и до твоего дома он добирается за двадцать минут.

from the station.

The time now is 12.20. Es ist jetzt 12.20 Uhr.

You could say, "he should be here soon." Du könntest sagen: "Er sollte bald hier sein."

How do you know if 'should' means “I think this is the right thing” or “I think this Woher wissen Sie, ob „sollte“ bedeutet „Ich denke, das ist das Richtige“ oder „Ich denke das

is probable?” ist wahrscheinlich?" вероятно?»

It depends on the context. Es kommt auf den Kontext an.

Usually, it'll be obvious. Normalerweise wird es offensichtlich sein.

For example, if I say:

"You should definitely go to the British Museum if you're in London. „Wenn Sie in London sind, sollten Sie unbedingt das British Museum besuchen. 「ロンドンに行ったら、大英博物館には絶対に行くべきだ。

It's really worth a visit." Es ist wirklich einen Besuch wert." Vale mesmo a pena visitar". Это действительно стоит посетить».

It's clear here that 'should' means “I think it's a good idea for you to go to

the British Museum” and not, “I think you'll probably go to the British Museum.” das British Museum“ und nicht: „Ich denke, Sie werden wahrscheinlich ins British Museum gehen.“

That just doesn't make sense. Das macht einfach keinen Sinn. Это просто не имеет смысла.

Similarly, if I say:

"It should take about 30 minutes to get there by car." "Es sollte etwa 30 Minuten dauern, um mit dem Auto dorthin zu gelangen." «Чтобы добраться туда на машине, потребуется около 30 минут».

…then 'should' clearly expresses probability. … dann drückt „sollte“ eindeutig die Wahrscheinlichkeit aus.

There's no way for this sentence to be advice or criticism, or anything like that. Dieser Satz kann auf keinen Fall ein Rat oder Kritik oder so etwas sein. Это предложение не может быть советом или критикой, или чем-то подобным.

Now, you've seen all the possible meanings of 'should'. Agora, já viste todos os significados possíveis de 'should'.

Finally, let's review what you've learned in this class. Lassen Sie uns abschließend wiederholen, was Sie in diesem Kurs gelernt haben.

'Should' is mostly used to express what you think is right or what you think is the best „Sollte“ wird meistens verwendet, um auszudrücken, was Sie für richtig halten oder was Sie für das Beste halten «Должен» в основном используется, чтобы выразить то, что вы считаете правильным или что вы считаете лучшим

thing.

So, you can use 'should' to give advice or to express your opinion about different topics. Sie können also „sollte“ verwenden, um Ratschläge zu erteilen oder Ihre Meinung zu verschiedenen Themen zu äußern.

Remember that 'should' is not the same as 'must' or 'have to'. Denken Sie daran, dass „sollte“ nicht dasselbe ist wie „müssen“ oder „müssen“. Помните, что «должен» — это не то же самое, что «должен» или «должен».

When you use 'should', you aren't talking about obligations or things which are necessary, Quando se usa "devia", não se está a falar de obrigações ou de coisas que são necessárias,

you're talking about what you think is best.

You can also use 'should' + 'have' + past participle to talk about the past.

We use 'should' in this way to criticise past mistakes. Wir verwenden „sollte“ auf diese Weise, um vergangene Fehler zu kritisieren.

There's one way to use 'should' which doesn't fit this pattern: 'should' can mean that something

is probable. ist wahrscheinlich.

You need to use the context to work out what 'should' means, although it's quite obvious Sie müssen den Kontext verwenden, um herauszufinden, was „sollte“ bedeutet, obwohl es ziemlich offensichtlich ist Вам нужно использовать контекст, чтобы понять, что означает «следует», хотя это совершенно очевидно.

in most cases. в большинстве случаев.

Remember that probable here has a specific meaning: it means the chance of something Lembre-se que provável tem um significado específico: significa a possibilidade de algo acontecer

happening is higher than 50%.

That's the end of the lesson.

I hope you learned something new about what 'should' means and how to use it.

You can find more great free English lessons on our website: Oxford Online English dot

com.

Thanks for watching!

See you next time!