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MendyTai
1 February

  • English (US) Near fluent
  • Simplified Chinese (China)
  • Spanish (Spain)
Question about English (US)

How do you say this in English (US)?
I’m learning a unit about ‘should’, and it said you can use ‘should’ after some adjectives….here are the examples it gave:
It’s strange that he should be late. He’s usually on time.
I was surprised that he should say such a thing.

I have known the meaning of these two sentences through the translator. But I couldn’t explain to myself the meaning of ‘should’ in these sentences, cause I’m sure that the ‘should’ here couldn’t be ‘ought to’. Can anyone please explain it, and thanks a lot🌹
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MendyTai
1 February

  • English (US) Near fluent
  • Simplified Chinese (China)
Add one more example: I was surprised that they should ask me for advice.
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HebrewDane
1 February

  • English (US)

Think of it as saying "would" instead of should. It might make more sense that way. Most people would say "would" anyway.

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ElliePerez2234
1 February

  • English (US)

@MendyTai ok so that example is not good. "I was surpirsed that they should ask me for advice" It would sound better if you said somthing like I was surprised that they asked me for help

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Michael_Glynn
1 February

  • English (US)

In these examples, “should” isn’t necessarily used to mean “ought to.” Here, it is used after “that” to express feelings or your opinion. In other words, “should” is just being used as part of the construction of the sentence.

The Cambridge dictionary says this:
“Should: used after ‘that’ and adjectives or nouns that show an opinion or feeling.”

This usage is more common in the UK. Most English speakers in the US might use “would” instead of “should” in these sentences. “Should” in these instances sounds a bit more formal.

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How do you say this in English (US)? I’m learning a unit about ‘should’, and it said you can use ‘should’ after some adjectives….here are the examples it gave: It’s strange that he should be late. He’s usually on time. I was surprised that he should say such a thing.
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