[General] 'the usage of Should'

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wq.denis

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Hi friends and teachers,

The sentence below seems no good to me. I got it from a memo.
"I should be glad if you could review attached document"

There is no obligation but she used 'should'. So, the using of 'should' confuses me.
Therefore, additional sentence below, from a poem, seems Ok to me.


"I know I should be glad that my husband and I have jobs, but I am so so tired of worrying about money."
 

philadelphia

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*Not a teacher

It is like one compares oneself to an average person -the main stream. The average person is glad that his/her wife/husband and s/he have a job while you are not glad but you should [be as the average person is]. So, you do not act as most of people act
 

2006

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Hi friends and teachers,

The sentence below seems no good to me. I don't like it either. I got it from a memo.
"I should be glad if you could review the attached document" To me, it makes much more sense to use 'would' instead of "should" there. See the link below.
Should | Define Should at Dictionary.com

Therefore, additional sentence below, from a poem, seems Ok to me.
"I know I should be glad that my husband and I have jobs, but I am so so tired of worrying about money. :tick:

"
2006
 

Raymott

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Hi friends and teachers,

The sentence below seems no good to me. I got it from a memo.
"I should be glad if you could review attached document"

There is no obligation but she used 'should'. So, the using of 'should' confuses me.
Therefore, additional sentence below, from a poem, seems Ok to me.


"I know I should be glad that my husband and I have jobs, but I am so so tired of worrying about money."
In your first sentence, 'should' doesn't have the meaning of obligation or 'ought to'. It's a hypothetical/conditional form of 'shall'.
"I will/shall be glad if you can read the document." (Not colloquial) ->
"I would/should be glad if you could read the document."
'Would' is used here much more frequently than 'should'.

In your second sentence, 'should' has the meaning of 'ought to', as you say.
 

wq.denis

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In your first sentence, 'should' doesn't have the meaning of obligation or 'ought to'. It's a hypothetical/conditional form of 'shall'.
"I will/shall be glad if you can read the document." (Not colloquial) ->
"I would/should be glad if you could read the document."
'Would' is used here much more frequently than 'should'.

In your second sentence, 'should' has the meaning of 'ought to', as you say.

Thank you so much for detailed explanation. I appreciated it.
 
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