5 ways to use 'SHOULD' in English

Hello. I'm Gill at engVid, and today we have a lesson on the use of the verb "should",

and it's an auxiliary (modal) verb. "Should". So, there are particular ways you can use

it. Okay? And this lesson links with two other lessons; there's one on "could" and there's

one on "would", so please look out for those as well. Right. So, "should". How do you use

"should"?

So, first of all, you can use it in a question. For example: "Should we invite the neighbours

to our party?" You're having a party, the people who live next door - the neighbours.

You might be thinking: "Well, they're nice people; we get on well with them. We don't

want them to be disturbed if the party gets noisy, or they may be upset to know that we're

having a party and we didn't invite them, so there are all these questions to think

about: Should we ask...? Should we invite them?" Or: "Do you think they will like our

other friends?" So: "Should we...? Should we?" It's like saying: "Ought we". So, there's

another word: "ought", which is also used in the same way. "Ought we to...?" But "should"

is more usual. "Should we invite the neighbours to our party?" And then you have to decide

yes or no. You might invite them and they might say: "Oh, sorry. We're going out that

night already. We have something else." Or they might come; it depends. So: "Should we"

used as a question. Okay. Meaning, you know: "Would it be a good idea to?" Okay.

Second sentence is when you're telling someone what is a sensible thing to do; what is a

good idea to do. "You should..." What you ought to do, again. "You ought to... You should

look both ways before crossing the road." You have to look to see: Is...? Is there any

traffic? Are there cars coming? Buses? To be safe, you have to look both ways. So: "You

should look both ways before crossing the road." It's a sensible thing to do. It's the

right thing to do. Okay.

And then this one, this one is a little bit old-fashioned and it sounds rather formal,

but maybe in a formal situation, like if you're taking an exam and the person organizing it

is being very formal with everybody; or there may be a notice up on the wall somewhere in

a room, which might say: "Should you wish to do so, you may go for lunch at 12:30."

So, "should" here is the same as saying: "if". It's just like "if". "If... If you like, if

you want to, if you wish... If you wish to do so" is a little bit formal, again. That's

a little bit formal, but you might see it written up on a notice. So: "Should you wish

to do so, you may go for lunch at 12:30." That is an acceptable time to go. If you want

to go for lunch, 12:30 is the time. So that's instead of "if". Okay. But it's a little bit

old-fashioned in style. Okay.

Another one, this one begins with "if", but it's different from the previous one. So,

somebody may have been asking: "How long will it take me to get to London from here?" So,

you may be two hours away by car, so the person would reply: "If... If you take the motorway"-which

is the quickest way; the motorway-"you should be there in two hours". So, there's a very

good possibility, almost 100% possibility that you will be there. Instead of saying

"will"... I mean, that person doesn't know for sure you will be there in two hours; nobody

can predict. But: "You should be. 99% sure that you... That... That you will be." So,

"should" is 99% sure or certain that you will be there in two hours. It will take you two

hours, driving, to arrive in London. Okay. So: "If you take the motorway, you should

be there." There's every possibility that you will be there in two hours. Okay.

And then, finally, the neighbours are back again. We... So, it looks like you didn't

invite the neighbours to the party and perhaps they were upset, either because you didn't

invite them or because of the noise that was made at your party with maybe loud music and

so on, going late into the night. So: "We should have invited the neighbours to our

party, but it's too late now." It's 3 o'clock in the morning, 4 o'clock in the morning,

and the neighbours are maybe banging on the wall, trying to get us to stop the noise.

So: "We should have invited them, then they would be here, enjoying it with us." So: "We

should have" means it's too late. We should have, but that opportunity has gone; it's

in the past. "We should have invited the neighbours to our party, but it's too late now." Okay.

So, just finally for this part of the lesson, to show you the different ways of writing

"should have": This is in full, "should have", like there. And you can abbreviate it or contract

it with "'ve". So, the apostrophe shows that the "h" and "a" are missing, because when

people are speaking, they might say: "should've", "should've". So, you just make a "ve", "ve"

sound at the end. "Should've", "should've", like that. "Should've". So, you might also

see it written like that, if somebody is writing exactly the way somebody spoke, or it's just

the style of the writing; they decided to use an abbreviation. Okay.

Sometimes just people... People just say: "Shoulda". "I shoulda". "We shoulda invited".

"Shoulda". So, sometimes you get "should" with an "a" at the end, but the "a" is really

this. So, it's not really correct, but people say "shoulda", "we shoulda". "We shoulda done

that." So, people say it and it sounds like that.

But there's one, which I definitely will tell you is not correct, so this one. "Should of"

is wrong, as I've said in the other two lessons. Sometimes people put: "could of", "should

of", "would of". The "of" is completely wrong because it has nothing to do with "have".

It's "have"; not "of". Okay. So, "should of" is wrong. So, there we are; I've crossed it

out in red because it is not correct. You will... You will see it a lot. People write

it on Facebook, and so on, they put: "should of". It... But it's not right, so please try

to avoid that if you can. Okay. Right. So, we'll move on to the second part of the lesson,

and I have a little test for you.

Okay. So, here is a little test on using the word "should". And we have four situations.

Okay? So, first of all, this is to advise someone to take an umbrella, as it might rain

later. So, how would you say that using the word "should"? Okay. So, you're talking to

somebody, you're saying: "You..." Maybe begin with "You". So: "You..." So: "You should take

an umbrella", and then the rest of the sentence can stay the same. "You should take an umbrella

when you go out, as it might rain later." It could rain later. You should take an umbrella.

If you don't want to get wet, you should take an umbrella. Okay? So, it's advice. Right.

Next one: You're asking a question... You're asking if you need to buy a ticket before

getting on the train. So, you're not sure. Well, most people do need to do that. But

this is a different way of asking. So, you're saying... Making it a question, so it's got

to have a question mark at the end, and you have to use "should". So, how would you do

that? Okay. So, as it's a question, you really need to start the sentence with "Should".

Okay. So: "Should", and then it's about you; what you do, so: "Should I...? Should I buy

a ticket before getting on the train?" So, all of that stays the same, and then question

mark at the... At the end. So: "Should I...?" If you remember: "Should we invite the neighbours

to our party?" and "Should I...?" So, it's "Should" first with a question, then the personal

pronoun. "Should I buy a ticket before getting on the train?" Question mark. Okay? Good.

Next one: You're feeling rather bad and sorry because you forgot to send your sister or

some family member a birthday card. You missed her birthday. Disaster. You missed somebody's

birthday. So, how do you say...? When it's too late now, it's that: "Too late now" use

of "should". So, what would you say, using "should", about this situation? So, it's you

that didn't do it, so you start with: "I". Okay? "I"... So then it's "should". "I should..."

and because it's one of those situations where it's too late now to do anything about it:

"I should have". Okay? "I should have", and then we've got "send" here, but we have to

use the past participle. "I should have sent". "I should have sent", "I should have sent

my sister a birthday card, but I forgot. I should have sent my sister", okay, that's

that one.

And then, finally: Someone in the street, they're looking for the nearest bank. Okay.

And they ask you: "Where is the nearest bank, please? Excuse me, could you tell me where

the nearest bank is?" And you know that it's only five minutes' walk away, just around

the corner. So, you can say: "Oh, it's just around this corner. If you keep walking, you

__________ __________ __________ in five minutes." So: "Keep walking. It's around the corner.

You __________ __________ __________ in five minutes." Can you remember? "You should be

there" you can say. "You should be there". So, you can say: "Just keep walking, around

the corner; you should be there in five minutes." It's very unlikely that they... They will

take longer or they won't arrive for some reason. "You should be there in five minutes.

It's not very far." Okay.

So, I hope that's been a useful lesson on the different ways of using "should". And

as I mentioned at the beginning of the lesson, there are two other lessons which are similar

to this; one on "could" and one on "would", and they're all very similar. So, please look

out for those as well. Okay. So, thanks for watching, and see you again soon. Bye for

now.