Shall or Should

Shall or Should

Shall and should are both modals. Shall expresses certain rules and laws, that must be followed.

E.g. Students should enter the room just before the test and leave their belongings outside.

Or, Everyone shall follow the law of the land.

Shall can also be used for suggestions, offers, and future promises or expressions

E.g.

Shall I drop you at the train station?

Or, I shall definitely reach your home at 9am sharp.

Should is the past tense of shall and is used to express something that is desired to happen but didn’t. It can also be used to ask someone’s opinion or something that is correct.

E.g. Should we work on the proposal again?

Or, Yes, we should.

Test you understanding – Choose the correct sentence from the pair of sentences given below

1.
a. You should visit the doctor to find the reason for the recurrent fever that you have had the past fortnight.
b. You shall visit the doctor to find the reason for the recurrent fever that you have had the past fortnight.

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2.
a. Shall I be in your office for the meeting at 10am?
b. Should I be in your office for the meeting at 10am?

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3.
a. Should we go to see Rajesh who is admitted in hospital?
b. Shall we go to see Rajesh who is admitted in hospital?

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4.
a. You should have seen the play....it was hilarious and everybody enjoyed it.
b. . You shall have seen the play....it was hilarious and everybody enjoyed it.

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5.
a. Since your assistant is on leave, shall I come to your shop to assist you?
b. Since your assistant is on leave, should I come to your shop to assist you

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