Today, I’d like to write about a word that everyone knows very well: “should”. However, most people only know one meaning for this word. Most people don’t realize that it has another meaning which is commonly used. So, let me go over the two meanings:
1. it is used to give advice to people and to say that something is a good idea, but that they have a choice about whether or not to do it. (If there is no choice, we use “have to” or “must”.) For example:
If you’re not happy with your job, you should quit.
My sister is a little overweight. She should go on a diet.
My Japanese isn’t very good. I should study more.
2. the word “should” can also be used when we have an expectation that something will happen, but which is not guaranteed. For example:
My friend invited me to a party tomorrow night. It should be really fun.
Mr. Norton should be back in the office at 4:00. Can I have him call you back at that time?
I ordered a book on the Internet. It should be delivered by Friday.
In the examples for the second definition, if we use the word “will”, it means that the situation is 100% guaranteed. So, because we can’t guarantee the situation will come true, we use the word “should”.
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