Quote:
Originally Posted by nyugaton  I do not seek your death, God knows; I should be sorry to see you suffer in the least."
What does this "should" mean? |
I think it could hold both a deontic and epistemic meaning and in this case they are so similar.
should [deontic] = it's commonly accepted by good people that feeling this way is a good thing.
OR
should [epistemic] = it's highly probable/there's a strong likelihood that I would be sorry to see you suffer. I think this use of 'should' shows a weaker epistemic meaning than 'would'; would carries a 100% meaning but 'should is, in this case, a bit weaker.