should
/ʃəd/
should is the simple past of shall.
Verb (1)
should (third-person singular simple present should, no present participle, no simple past or past participle)
- Used to issue an instruction (traditionally seen as carrying less force of authority than alternatives such as 'shall' or 'must').
- You should never drink and drive.
- The law is clear that you should always wear a seat belt.
- Used to give advice or opinion that an action is, or would have been, beneficial or desirable.
- You should go and see that film. I think you'll enjoy it.
- Should we go and see the police, do you think?
- With verbs such as 'see' or 'hear', usually in the second person, used to point out something remarkable in either a good or bad way.
- You should see his new apartment. It's like a palace!
- If you think her piano playing is bad, you should hear her sing!
- In questions, asks what is correct, proper, desirable, etc.
- What do you think? What should I do?
- Next month, Clemons will be brought before a court presided over by a "special master", who will review the case one last time. The hearing will be unprecedented in its remit, but at its core will be a simple issue: should Reggie Clemons live or die?2012 August 21, Ed Pilkington, “Death penalty on trial: should Reggie Clemons live or die?”, in The Guardian
- Indicates that something is expected to have happened or to be the case now.
- They should have finished by now; I'll call them to check.
- My fruit trees should be in flower, but the cold spring has set them back.
- Will be likely to (become or do something); indicates a degree of possibility or probability that the stated thing will happen or be true in the future.
- They should have it finished by Friday.
- When you press this button, the pilot flame should ignite.
- Used to form a variant of the present subjunctive, expressing a state or action that is hypothetical, potential, mandated, etc.
- If I should be late, I should hope that you are prepared to go on without me.
- Should you need extra blankets, you will find them in the closet.
- Synonyms:
- were
- Used to express a conditional outcome.
- If I had not been so tired, I should have laughed heartily.
- "If our friends, the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, were only with us," said the Lion, "I should be quite happy."1900 May 17, L[yman] Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, Ill.; New York, N.Y.: Geo[rge] M[elvin] Hill Co., →OCLC
- Used to impart a tentative, conjectural or polite nuance.
- I should imagine that they have arrived by now.
- I should think you would apologize.
- Used to express what the speaker would do in another person's situation, as a means of giving a suggestion or recommendation.
- It's disgraceful the way that they've treated you. I should write and complain.
- As this happens to be Saturday it gives you a day's grace. I should go round and see the chiefs to-morrow. Tell them all about it and what I have said.1934, Ernest Bramah, The Bravo of London
Meaning of shall
Verb
shall (third-person singular simple present shall, no present participle, simple past should, no past participle)
- Used before a verb to indicate the simple future tense in the first person singular or plural.
- I shall sing in the choir tomorrow.
- Used similarly to indicate determination or obligation in the second and third persons singular or plural.
- (determination): You shall go to the ball!; He shall be given a fair trial.
- Used in questions with the first person singular or plural to suggest a possible future action.
- What shall I do? Shall I give you a hand?
- To owe.
- I thee shall a hundred golden coins; th'amount thou shalt the Queen is much higher.
Verb (2)
should (third-person singular simple present shoulds, present participle shoulding, simple past and past participle shoulded)
- To suggest (that someone ought to do something, or that something ought to be the case) by, or as if by, using the word should.
- I'd prefer that she stop shoulding me. I prefer that I stop shoulding me. I prefer that I stop shoulding her.2008 November 1, Damon L. Jacobs, Absolutely Should-Less: The Secret to Living the Stress-Free Life You Deserve, Morgan James Publishing, →ISBN
- […] for her to be kind to herself and less susceptible to others shoulding her.2015 March 8, Diane Brandon, Dream Interpretation for Beginners: Understand the Wisdom of Your Sleeping Mind, Llewellyn Worldwide, →ISBN
Noun
should (plural shoulds)
- Something that ought to be the case as opposed to already being the case.
- When the golf ball is there, the whole self-interference package — the hopes, worries, and fears; the thoughts on how-to and how-not-to; the woulds, the coulds, and the shoulds — is there too.1996, Fred Shoemaker, Extraordinary Golf: The Art of the Possible, page 88
- However, we can address maladaptive shoulds by examining the differences between prior events, causes, proximate causes, and moral responsibility.2003, Robert L. Leahy, Overcoming Resistance in Cognitive Therapy
Synonyms of should
Antonyms
Forms of should
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | should |
| third-person singular present | shoulds |
| present participle | shoulding |
| past participle | shoulded |
| past | shoulded |
| alternative form (obsolete) | shou'd |
| alternative form (archaic) | shoulde |
| Noun | |
| plural | shoulds |
Origin of should
From Middle English scholde, from Old English sċolde, first and third person preterite form of sċulan (“should,” “have to,” “to owe”), the ancestor of English shall. By surface analysis, shall + -ed. Cognate with German sollte, Gothic 𐍃𐌺𐌿𐌻𐌳𐌰 (skulda), Swedish skulle. Related to Middle English shild and shildy. The loss of /l/ in this word is probably due to weak stress, as in would and could (though in the latter, the /l/ was due to the analogy of the former two).
Words formed from should
- as who should say
- blue and green should never be seen
- children should be seen and not heard
- he who sups with the devil should have a long spoon
- how should I know
- I should coco
- I should cocoa
- might should
- no one should be judge in his own case
- no one should be judge in his own cause
- one should never meet one's heroes
- or should I say
- people that live in glass houses should not throw stones
- people that live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones
- people who live in glass houses should not throw stones
- people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones
- proverbs should be sold in pairs
- proverbs should be writ in pairs
- proverbs should come in pairs
- proverbs should go in pairs
- should-cost
- should hope
- should on
- should see the other guy
- they should have sent a poet
- those who live in glass houses should not throw stones
- those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones
- those who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those doing it
- though I say it who should not
- though I say it who should not say it
- what should I do
- you shouldn't have
- you shouldn't talk
- you should talk
- zig when one should zag
Phrases with should
Words that rhyme with should
8 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about should
- What does should mean?
- Should means used to issue an instruction (traditionally seen as carrying less force of authority than alternatives such as 'shall' or 'must').
- What is should the simple past of?
- Should is the simple past of shall.
- What part of speech is should?
- Should can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce should?
- Should is pronounced /ʃəd/.
- What is the past tense of should?
- The past tense of should is shoulded.
Words near should in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: should (page history and authors); shall (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Pvanp7-should (unstressed).wav, en-US should (unstressed).ogg.
Cite this entry: “should.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/should. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.