Should

How to spell should

6 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce should

What does should mean?

1. verbUsed to express obligation, advice, or expectation about what is likely or correct.

Should in a sentence

• You should try the new recipe.

• You should try the new bakery on the corner.

Where does should come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word comes from Old English sceolde, the past tense of sculan, a verb that meant 'to owe' or 'to be obliged to'. That sense of obligation is still alive in the modern meaning, since 'should' expresses what one ought to do. It belongs to a wider Germanic family, with close relatives in Dutch zou and German sollte, all carrying the same idea of duty or expectation. Over the centuries it weakened from a literal 'owing' into the softer modal verb we use for advice and likelihood. The silent 'l' is the real spelling trap: it survives from the older form sceolde and is a fossil that we no longer pronounce, exactly as in 'would' and 'could'.

How the word is built

• should (past tense of shall, from Old English sceolde 'owed, ought to')