The modal “should” talks about giving advice and making recommendations.^[1]https://www.ecenglish.com/learnenglish/lessons/should-modals It is similar to the modals of “must” and “have to”, but used in a slightly different way.

Advice

The modal “should” can be used to give advice. In addition, it can be used in the past, present, and future verb tenses.

For example:

Past

• You should
  have eaten less for dinner.
• She should
  have arrived earlier to class.
• They shouldn’t
  have yelled loudly during the movie.

Present

• I should
  exercise more regularly.
• We should
  eat now.
• Joe should
  help us with the housework.

Future

• Susie should
  start studying for the test.
• Mark shouldn’t
  start complaining.
• You should
  start eating more healthily.

Expectation

The modal “should” can be used for expectation. In addition, it can be used in the past, present, and future verb tenses.

For example:

Past

• We should
  have arrived by now.
• They should
  have been finished by now.
• Frank should
  have stopped cooking.

Present

• I should
  be arriving now.
• You shouldn’t
  be studying now.
• It should
  be arriving now.

Future

• My friends should
  be arriving in an hour.
• The plane should
  be landing in 2.5 hours.
• The restaurant should be opening in 30 minutes.

Note: you can replace “should” with the words “be supposed to” and “ought to be”.

Obligation

The modal “should” can be used for obligations. There is not negative form when talking using should and talking about obligations.

For example:

• We should
  let her know.
• You should
  go to sleep.
• They should
  be quite.

Note: you can replace “should” with the words “be supposed to”.

Question

You can used the modal should to ask for advice about something. The question form of the modal “should” is:

• Should I
  wait for you?
• Should
  we tell her about it?
• Should
  they let us know?

Example Exercises

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