should
/ʃəd/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.99 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
1
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
simple past of shall
verb
Ought to; indicating opinion, advice, or instruction, about what is required or desirable.
verb
Ought to; indicating opinion, advice, or instruction, about what is required or desirable.
verb
Ought to; indicating opinion, advice, or instruction, about what is required or desirable.
Informal
verb
Ought to; indicating opinion, advice, or instruction, about what is required or desirable.
verb
verb
verb
Used to form a variant of the present subjunctive, expressing a state or action that is hypothetical, potential, mandated, etc.
Example Sentences
- "I told him that I should be busy tomorrow."
- "I was astonished at this polite offer, which my modesty induced me to ascribe more to my uniform than to my own merits, and, as I felt no inclination to refuse the compliment, I said that I should be most happy."
- "You should never drink and drive."
- "The law is clear that you should always wear a seat belt."
- "The manual says that this switch should be in the 'off' position."
- "You should go and see that film. I think you'll enjoy it."
Etymology
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).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: scholde, sċolde