[Grammar] Should your future kitchen have marble countertops and a bar counter space?

[englishhobby]

My students had an assignment to make questions using the vocabulary we had studied. One of them wrote: Should your future kitchen have marble countertops and a bar counter space?
As far as I know, 'should' is the wrong word here as it is normally used with peple, not things. I think we can rephrase the sentence as 'Does your kitchen have to have.. ' (but I don't like the 'have to have' here) or 'Must your kitchen have...' (but it feels almost the same as 'should' to me).
So are my versions of the student's question natural and correct grammatically or can you help me with better ones?

 

[emsr2d2]

There's nothing wrong with the original. I would mark your student's sentence correct. "Should" there is read as "Would it be a good idea for/if/to ...".

I certainly disagree with your assertion that "should" is used only with people, not things.

Should all cars be electric by 2050?
Should sofas have better back support?
Should all laptops have a CD drive?

 

[englishhobby]

There's nothing wrong with the original. I would mark your student's sentence correct. "Should" there is read as "Would it be a good idea for/if/to ...".

And can we replace 'should' with 'must' in my original sentence?

 

[5jj]

You can, but it changes the meaning.

 

[jutfrank]

It isn't completely clear to me what your student was asking. I think they meant something akin to: Is it important for you that ... ? Right? If so, I don't think should is the best choice of word. Does your kitchen have to have ... ? is much better.

 

[emsr2d2]

But that's a completely different question. The original doesn't ask anything about the listener's/reader's current kitchen - only about their next one. I find it completely natural. I take "should" (as I said) to mean "Do you/we think it's a good idea ..." or it can be used for recommendations.

Why your next car should be a Tesla. Read more on page 32.
Should your next bike be electric? Read our report overleaf.
Should your future kitchen have marble countertops and a bar counter space? We think so and we'll tell you why later in the programme.

 

[jutfrank]

I take "should" (as I said) to mean "Do you/we think it's a good idea ..." or it can be used for recommendations.

I meant that I don't think that's what the student means. I think he/she means Is it important for you that your future kitchen has marble countertops and space for a bar?

I'm just guessing, of course. englishhobby, please tell us what your student means, otherwise we can't answer your question.

 

[englishhobby]

I meant that I don't think that's what the student means. I think he/she means Is it important for you that your future kitchen has marble countertops and space for a bar?

I'm just guessing, of course. englishhobby, please tell us what your student means, otherwise we can't answer your question.

To be honest, I am not quite sure myself what the student meant (I can ask her later, but not at the moment). It was a short essay about an ideal house/flat, so she wrote about her preferences. I think she meant 'it's important, but it's not a "must"', that is why she used 'should' (she didn't use 'must' because she wanted to make it sound 'milder' than 'must', she did not want to sound too categoric, though it is quite important for her. It is about personal preference and a desired situation. I think the student meant 'it would be most desirable'.

 

[jutfrank]

So why she did she say that as a question? If you give us the previous sentence(s), it may help.