different between should vs were

English

Alternative forms

• shou’d (obsolete)
• shoulde (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English scholde, from Old English scolde, first and third person preterite form of sculan (“should,” “have to,” “to owe”), the ancestor of English shall. Related to shild and shildy.

Pronunciation

• (stressed) IPA^(key): /??d/
• (unstressed) IPA^(key): /??d/
• Rhymes: -?d

Verb

should

1. (auxiliary) Indicates that the speaker has some strong advice but has no authority to enforce it.

   What do I think? What should I do?

   You should never drink and drive.

   You should always wear a seat belt.

2. (auxiliary) ought to; speaker's opinion, or advice that an action is correct, beneficial, or desirable.

   You should brush your teeth every day.

   I should exercise more often, but I'm too lazy.
3. (auxiliary) Will be likely to (become or do something); indicates a degree of possibility or probability that the subject of the sentence is likely to execute the sentence predicate.

   They should have finished it by Friday.

   When you press this button, the pilot flame should ignite.

   You should be warm enough with that coat.

4. (auxiliary, subjunctive) Used as a variant of the present subjunctive.

   If I should be late, go without me.

   Should you need extra blankets, you will find them in the closet.

   • 1906, Alfred Noyes, The Highwayman:

     "One kiss, my bonny sweetheart, I'm after a prize to-night,

     But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the morning light;

     Yet, if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day,

     Then look for me by moonlight,

     Watch for me by moonlight,

     I'll come to thee by moonlight, though Hell should bar the way."

   • 1922, Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit

     It was a long weary time, for the Boy was too ill to play, and the little Rabbit found it rather dull with nothing to do all day long. But he snuggled down patiently, and looked forward to the time when the Boy should be well again, and they would go out in the garden amongst the flowers and the butterflies and play splendid games in the raspberry thicket like they used to.

   • And I'd be a fool right now
     If I should hurt you girl
     And I'd be a fool right now
     If I should leave you girl

   • 2008, Peter Michael Higgins, Number Story: From Counting to Cryptography, page 141 (Google Books view):

     He is noted for coming up with his 'wager', in which he argued that he was prepared to believe in God on the grounds that he had nothing to lose if he was wrong, and everything to gain should he be right.

5. (auxiliary) simple past tense of shall.

   I told him that I should be busy tomorrow.

   • 1842, Frederick Marryat, Peter Simple Frederick Marryat, page 19 (Google Books view):

     I was astonished at this polite offer, which my modesty induced me to ascribe more to my uniform than to my own merits, and, as I felt no inclination to refuse the compliment, I said that I should be most happy.

6. (auxiliary, formal, literary) A variant of would when used with first person subjects.

   I should imagine that everything is fine right now.

   I should be lucky if I were you.

   I should think you would apologize.

   • 1900, L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

     "If our friends, the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, were only with us," said the Lion, "I should be quite happy."

   • 1900, L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Chapter 23

     "Your Silver Shoes will carry you over the desert," replied Glinda. "If you had known their power you could have gone back to your Aunt Em the very first day you came to this country." "But then I should not have had my wonderful brains!" cried the Scarecrow. "I might have passed my whole life in the farmer's cornfield."

Usage notes

• Should has, as its most common meaning in modern English, the sense ought as in I should go, but I don't see how I can. However, the older sense as the subjunctive of the future indicative auxiliary, shall, is often used with I or we to indicate a more polite form than would: I should like to go, but I can't; Were he to arrive, I should be pleased. In much speech and writing, should has been replaced by would In contexts of this kind, but it remains in conditional subjunctives: should (never would) I go, I should wear my new dress; should he remain, he'd be granted asylum.
• (obligation): Contrast with stronger auxiliary verb must, which indicates that the speaker believes the subject is required to execute the predicate, or have to which indicates that the speaker believes the subject is required to execute, although speaker might disagree with the principle, and should which is merely advice - take it or leave it.
• (likely): Possibility, or probability. Contrast with stronger auxiliary verb in the affirmative must, and negative sense can't, which indicate that there is a logical imperative certainty that the subject will (or will not) execute the predicate. Also compare with the weaker might, which indicates at most a 50/50 possibility, or probability.
• (subjunctive): In American English, the present subjunctive is commonly used instead of should (e.g., "suggest that he stay"), while in British English, should is commoner (e.g., "suggest that he should stay"). Both forms of English, however, sometimes use should in certain conditionals (e.g., "If I should be in trouble, I shall call you"). Furthermore, should is not used in independent clauses with the present subjunctive, many of which clauses are now fossilized expressions (e.g., "Peace be with you", "suffice it to say"; never should be or should suffice).
• See the usage notes at shall.

Synonyms

• (obligation): ought

Antonyms

• (obligation): shouldn't

Related terms

• shouldst (archaic second-person singular of should)
• should've, shoulda (contraction of auxiliary phrase should have)
• one should be so lucky
• one should live so long

Translations

Noun

should (plural shoulds)

1. Something that ought to be the case as opposed to already being the case.
   • 1996, Fred Shoemaker, Extraordinary Golf: The Art of the Possible (page 88)

     When the golf ball is there, the whole self-interference package — the hopes, worries, and fears; the thoughts on how-to and how-not-to; the woulds, the coulds, and the shoulds — is there too.

   • 2008, Working Mother (volume 31, number 8, page 20)

     Being a list-o-maniac, I suggested we make a list of the "shoulds" and "shouldn'ts." So in the darkness of hazy sleep, I began to mentally prepare mine. The first item on the "should" side was easy: a sibling for our 3-year-old daughter.

Verb

should (third-person singular simple present shoulds, present participle shoulding, simple past and past participle shoulded)

1. To make a statement of what ought to be true, as opposed to reality. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

See also

• precatory
• Appendix:English modal verbs
• Appendix:English tag questions
• Auxiliary verb on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Modal verb on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Shall and will on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English were, weren, from Old English w?re, w?ron, w?ren, from Proto-Germanic *w?z-, from Proto-Indo-European *h?wes-. More at was.

Pronunciation

stressed

• (UK) enPR: wûr, IPA^(key): /w??(?)/
• (UK, regional) enPR: wâr, IPA^(key): /w??(?)/
• (US) enPR: wûr, IPA^(key): /w?/
• Rhymes: -??(?)
• Homophone: whirr (in accents with the wine-whine merger)

unstressed

• (UK) enPR: w?r, IPA^(key): /w?(?)/
• (US) enPR: w?r, IPA^(key): /w?/

Verb

were

1. second-person singular simple past indicative of be

2. first/second/third-person plural simple past indicative of be

3. first/second/third-person singular/plural simple present/past subjunctive of be

   I wish that it were Sunday.

   I wish that I were with you.

   • with “if” omitted, put first in an “if” clause:

     Were it simply that she wore a hat, I would not be upset at all. (= If it were simply...)

     Were father a king, we would have war. (= If father were a king,...)
4. (Northern England) first/third-person singular simple past indicative of be.

Synonyms

• (second-person singular past indicative, archaic) wast (used with “thou”)
• (second-person singular imperfect subjunctive, archaic) wert (used with “thou”)

See also

Etymology 2

From Middle English were, wer, see wer.

Noun

were (plural weres)

1. Alternative form of wer (“man; wergeld”)
   • 1799-1805, Sharon Trurner, History of the Anglo-Saxons

     Every man was valued at a certain sum, which was called his were.

   • 1867, John Lingard, T. Young, Introduction to English History [...] arranged [...] by T. Young, page 19:

     If by that he failed to pay or give security for the were, or fine, at which murder was legally rated; he might be put to death by the relatives of the murdered man.

   • 1908, Frederic Jesup Stimson, The Law of the Federal and State Constitutions of the United States, page 13:

     Written statutes busied themselves only with the amount of the were, or fine, or (for the first century after the Conquest) with the method of procedure.

Etymology 3

Back-formation from werewolf and other terms in were-, from the same source as English wer, were (“man”) (above).

Noun

were (plural weres)

1. (fandom slang) The collective name for any kind of person that changes into another form under certain conditions, including the werewolf.

Anagrams

• Ewer, ewer, ewre, rewe, weer

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -e?r?

Verb

were

1. (archaic) singular present subjunctive of weren

Anagrams

• weer

Fijian

Noun

were

1. garden

Verb

were (wereca)

1. to garden, to weed (wereca specifically)

Irarutu

Etymology

From Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *wai?, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahi?.

Noun

were

1. water (clear liquid H?O)

Further reading

• Cornelis L. Voorhoeve, Languages of Irian Jaya Checklist (1975, Canberra: Pacific Linguistics)

Maku'a

Noun

were

1. water

References

• Aone van Engelenhoven, The position of Makuva among the Austronesian languages of Southwest Maluku and East Timor, in Austronesian historical linguistics and culture history: a festschrift, Pacific linguistics 601 (2009)

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English w?re (second-person singular indicative and subjunctive past of wesan).

Alternative forms

• weer, weere, wer, wære

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?w??r(?)/, /?w?r(?)/

Verb

were

1. inflection of been:
   1. second-person singular indicative past
   2. singular subjunctive past

Descendants

• English: were (dialectal war, ware)
• Scots: war, waar, ware, waur, wur, wir

Etymology 2

From a conflation of Old English w?ron and Old English w?ren.

Verb

were

1. Alternative form of weren

Etymology 3

From Old English werre, wyrre.

Noun

were

1. Alternative form of werre

Mwani

Noun

were 5 (plural mawere)

1. breast

Northern Kurdish

Verb

were

1. second-person singular imperative of hatin

Onin

Etymology

From Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *wai?, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahi?.

Noun

were

1. water (clear liquid H?O)

Tocharian B

Noun

were ?

1. smell, odor, scent, aroma

Toro

Noun

were

1. day

References

• Roger Blench, The Toro language of Central Nigeria and its affinities (2012)

Uruangnirin

Etymology

From Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *wai?, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahi?.

Noun

were

1. water (clear liquid H?O)