[Grammar] Use of ''should'' to express wishes

[petrici]

Hi everybody,

it's that time of the year and I have to come up with some xmas/NY wishes for some business partners. I am not native Eng. so I would like to check one this with you guys. I cannot get this structure with ''should'' out of my head; please correct me, if it's totally wrong. For example: ''Should all your wishes come true''. Ok it's a cliche, but is the use of ''should'' even possible to express wishes (like in the given example)? If yes; would you say it's obsolete? Would you recommend to form a sentence like this or not?

Thank you very much!

 

[emsr2d2]

Hi everybody.

It's that time of the year and I have to come up with some Xmas/NY wishes for some business partners. I am not a native English speaker so I would like to check [STRIKE]one[/STRIKE] this with you guys. I cannot get this structure with ''should'' out of my head. Please correct me (no comma here) if it's totally wrong. For example, ''Should all your wishes come true''. [STRIKE]Ok[/STRIKE] OK, it's a cliche, but is the use of ''should'' even possible to express wishes (like in the given example)? If yes, would you say it's obsolete? Would you recommend [STRIKE]to[/STRIKE] forming a sentence like this or not?

Thank you very much!

Welcome to the forum. :hi:

I would not recommend it. Use "I hope all your wishes come true". You can use your construction in phrases like "Should all your wishes come true, you would be a very lucky person!" In that case "should" is similar to "if".

Note my amendments above.

 

[konungursvia]

Reading Lord of the Rings, I noticed a construction similar to that: "Would that...." meaning, I wish that....

 

[Peedeebee]

I can think of saying, " I should like to ..do such and such." Now it has an idea of wishing for something to happen. But I think that would be regarded as quaint, ie: strangely old-fashioned. We would usually say, "I would like.."
But as ems says, it's not what you want on your Christmas cards.

I like Konungursvia's comment about Tolkein; the Lord of the Rings. "Would that.. " I think it is really old-fashioned, but not obsolete. Tolkein deliberately created worlds with ancient styles of speech. Doesn't it come up in Shakespeare too?

 

[emsr2d2]

Reading Lord of the Rings, I noticed a construction similar to that: "Would that...." meaning, I wish that....

I use that construction quite frequently.