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Should ( Ought to)

SHOULD  is a modal auxiliary, ( the preterite of shall). It means 'what is correct, proper, what is a good action, or a duty' and is used to express:

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1) - moral or friendly  ADVICE in the present and the future : for moral advice, it's quite frequent to use ought to + verb. In the United States, 'ought to ' is more often used than in the United Kingdom, whatever nuance you want to express.

With should (or ought to), the subject is submitted to an outside pressure, he's not making his own decisions freely (= constraint ); on the contrary, 'would' often has a tinge of 'will power'.

ex : You should stop smoking as soon as possible !(= You ought to stop smoking! = it would be moral, you'd live longer, in order to take care of your family ...)

2) - Regrets, or reproaches concerning the present ( here too, 'ought to' insists on a moral constraint ). The negative form shouldn't is much more frequent to express reproaches.

ex : He shouldn't drive so fast, especially after being so sick. Let's hope he won't be arrested for DUI. (Driving Under Influence -of drugs, alcohol etc.)

3) - A possibility, a prevision or prediction: = something is likely or expected ...

ex : Federer is the best player of the tournament : he should win quite easily.

4) - In the past :  should + have + past participle  = expresses opinions about past actions which were unpredictable, desirable, unnecessary. In that case, 'have' is unstressed.

ex : You should have helped him when he needed you.

ex : He shouldn't have lied if he wanted me to trust him ...

5) - In an 'if' clause, 'should' expresses a coincidence, an unlikely hypothesis:

ex : If there should be a delay, I'd want to be warned ! = If there happens to be a delay ...

In very formal conversations or in formal written language, we may use the subject-verb inversion :  ex : Should there be a delay, I would like to be warned ...

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1) 'Kevin ! You know that you shouldn't eatyou should eatshould you eatshouldn't you eatI don't know so much chocolate ! You'll make yourself sick !'
2) The tennis match tomorrow will be wonderful, but Roger should he winshouldn't winshould winshould winsI don't know ! He's really the best player at present !
3) Mary ! You should have workedShould you workYou should workYou shouldn't workI don't know more at Maths ! You'd get better marks and slowly, you'd like it better !
4) Tom was quite rude ! He should openHe should have openedHe shouldn't openHe shouldn't have openedI don't know the door without knocking first !
5) Should I comeShouldn't I comeI shouldn't comeI should comeI don't know in, or do you want me to go ? You have to decide right now...
6)Yesterday I heard a student say: 'The teacher should punishshouldn't punishshouldn't have punishedought to have punishedI don't know the whole class. It's not fair...'' 'Do you think should I goI shouldn't goI should goI should have goneI don't know and see him' ?
7) Should you eatYou shouldn't eatYou should eatenYou should eatI don't know more vegetables, especially green ones... They're very good for you !
8) Yes ! You're right ! I shouldn't have slappedI should have slappedI should slapShould I have slappedI don't know you... I'm sorry and I won't do it again... I promise !
9) Come on ! As an adult, he shouldn't achieveshould he have achievedhe should achieveshould he achieveI don't know better performances than a Junior !
10) If it should haveIf there should beIf there should haveIf there isIf they shoud beI don't know mistakes in my text, please, do not hesitate and correct them...or point them out to me !