Shouldn't

How to spell shouldn't

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce shouldn't

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does shouldn't mean?

1. verbA contraction of 'should not', expressing that something is not advisable, not obligatory, or not expected.

Shouldn't in a sentence

• We shouldn't have left the office so late on a Friday.

• You shouldn't sign the contract before reading every clause.

Where does shouldn't come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is a contraction of 'should not', and each part has deep Germanic roots. 'Should' began life as the past tense of the Old English verb sculan, meaning 'to owe' or 'to be obliged', so the earliest sense carried a flavour of duty and debt rather than mere prediction. Over the centuries the obligation sense softened into the advisory and conditional meanings we use today. 'Not' descends from Old English nawiht, literally 'no thing' or 'nothing', which wore down to the short word we now use to negate. The blended form 'shouldn't' became common in writing as informal contractions gained acceptance, and the apostrophe was inserted precisely to mark the missing letter 'o' of 'not', which is the very spot writers most often get wrong.

How the word is built

• should (modal verb)
• -n't (contracted form of 'not')