English Modals: 4 ways to use "SHOULD"

So come on and let me know: Should I stay or should I go?

Oh, hey, everyone.

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I'm Alex.

Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this lesson on "4 Ways to Use 'Should'".

Now, you are probably familiar with at least two of these ways if you have been studying

English for a while.

So the most common ways are the first two up here, and then we're going to look at two

other ways that might be a little less familiar to you.

So, let's start with the first, the very first way that every student learns how to use "should"

when they're studying English, which is for present or future advice.

Now, the structure for this is "should" or "should not" if you're making a negative sentence,

plus the base verb.

So you have your subject: "I", "you", "he", "she", "it", "we", "they", "Mark", "Paul",

"my mom", "your mom", whatever, plus this structure.

So let's look at some examples of present or future advice.

"You should call him."

So you're giving the advice to your friend who maybe had a fight with, you know, their

boyfriend or their husband or just a friend, and you think they should call him.

It's a good idea for them to call him.

Okay?

"They shouldn't argue so much."

Now, here you're kind of giving your opinion about another couple's relationship, and you're

giving your advice to a friend about their situation, if that's not too confusing, I

hope.

So: "They shouldn't argue so much."

They argue too much.

My advice is they shouldn't argue so much.

And third example for you guys: "He should apologize."

If you, you know, want to be a good friend to your girlfriend or your boyfriend, and

you want to give them, you know, support and tell them that their boyfriend needs to apologize,

you're giving him advice even though he's not here.

"He should apologize."

It's a good idea for him to apologize to you because he made a mistake.

Okay?

Before we continue, I just want you guys to repeat these sentences after me so that, you

know, we can practice the pronunciation and you're using the language that you're hearing

in this video.

So, repeat after me: "You should call him.", "They shouldn't argue so much.", "He should

apologize."

All right, let's move on to the second way we use "should".

Now, here you can use it for past advice or to show past regrets.

So, the structure for this, just like up here, you have "should" or "should not" if it's

negative, plus "have".

It's always "have", it's never "has".

Okay?

It's always the base form of "have".

"Should not have" plus the past participle of your main verb.

So, let's look at some examples so this is easy to see.

First one: "I shouldn't have done that."

So you are showing personal regret for something you did in the past, and you feel bad because

you really should have made a different decision, so you say: "I shouldn't have done that."

Now, notice here, you know, I put the contraction.

We're speaking.

I want to give you practical skills, practical language that you can use.

I could say: "He should not have done that", and be very formal, but really when most people

speak, they speak in contractions, so you and I will speak in contractions in this video,

too; like a pregnant woman, contractions.

It's a joke.

Next: "You should've asked me first."

Now, again, you're talking to a friend and maybe they made a decision and you feel they

made the decision without asking you your opinion or if the decision was okay.

So maybe your friend, I don't know, like, grabbed your phone and used it to call long

distance somewhere, and your phone plan is, you know, almost up, your data is all used

up, maybe they're, I don't know, watching a YouTube video.

If they're watching engVid, let them watch, like, all they want, it's cool.

But if they're watching something else, you know, you say: "Oh, you should've asked me

first."

This is, again, contraction: "should have".

"You should've asked me first."

So before we continue, let's repeat these sentences one more time.

So repeat after me: "I shouldn't have done that.", "You should've asked me first."

Okay, so that's for past advice or past regrets.

And here, again, if you're using "I", usually it's for regret.

"I should have done something", "I shouldn't have done something".

Next: Expectation.

So, if you expect something to happen or expect something to have happened in the past, you

can use "should".

Now, this can be used for present expectation, future expectation.

And for present and future, the structure is exactly the same as here.

And for past expectation, the structure is exactly the same as you see here.

So, for example: "He should be here by now."

So you expect him to be at your location now.

"He should be here by now.

Why is he late?"

My expectation is he should be here by now.

Present expectation.

Okay?

Next: "She should have been there at 7."

Okay?

So, if your friend is telling you, you know: "Hey, Martha didn't come to the meeting.

She didn't come until, like, 8 o'clock."

It's like: "Well, I'm her roommate.

I saw her leave the house at, like, 6 o'clock.

She should have been there by 7."

Okay?

My expectation is that I expected her to be at the meeting at 7 o'clock.

She should have been there at 7.

Okay?

Now, depending on the context, you could also use this sentence for past advice.

Right?

So: "She should have been there at 7."

But you can also use it to talk about your expectation.

All right?

And then, finally...

Before finally, let's repeat these sentences, just like we've been doing, so repeat after

me: "He should be here by now.", "She should have been there at 7."

All right.

And the final way is to show less certainty or this is known as hedging.

So, in cards, I think it's Black Jack, if you hedge your bets, you're not putting all

your bets in one deck of cards.

You're splitting, so you're leaving the possibility open that more than one, you know, way might

be possible.

So, here, if you want to show less certainty: "This should work."

Okay?

So if you have a plan or if you are fixing something, or if you...

Well, yeah, if you're fixing something and you think: "This is supposed to working.

Okay, this should work."

Okay?

If you...

If you push the power button now, it should be fixed by now.

I'm not saying 100% it will work.

I think it should be okay.

Okay?

So, there's another one: "It should be okay."

Very common way to show less certainty.

Okay.

Your boss asks you: "When is that project going to be ready?

When will you be finished that project?"

Say: "I should have it done by tomorrow.

I should.

Probably.

But if it's not, don't get too upset.

Okay?

But I should have it done by tomorrow."

And a very, very common thing to say, especially if you work in, like, the customer service

industry and someone asks you, you know, for an exceptional situation, has an exceptional

request, and you say: "It shouldn't be a problem."

Okay?

Maybe I will have some trouble with your request, but it should be okay.

It shouldn't be a problem.

Now, this is kind of in line with expectation.

It's easy to get them mixed up sometimes, but if you want to show less certainty, if

you want to manage the expectations of the people you work for or the people you make

a promise to, you can use "should" in this way.

So, repeat after me: "This should work.", "I should have it done by tomorrow.", "It

shouldn't be a problem."

Beautiful.

So, just to review: There are four ways that you can use "should" in English.

One, for present or future advice: "You should call him."

Two, for past advice or past regrets: "You shouldn't have done that."

Three, for expectation: "He should be here by now."

And four, to show less certainty or to hedge what you're, you know, promising to someone:

"This should work."

Okay?

So, really by watching these videos, you should be able to improve your English pretty quickly.

If you want to test your understanding of the four ways to use "should", as always,

you can check out the quiz on www.engvid.com.

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Til next time, thanks for clicking.

Should I stay or should I go?

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