AN INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH GRAMMAR & LANGUAGE
Shall is also used in the second and third person to Note : (i) Should and Would are used instead of shall
ask after the will of the person addressed. and will in making a polite request.
For example For example
Shall I open the door? (Do you feel like me to open I should thank you if you would let me go.
the door). Would you kindly lend me your hat?
Which pen shall I buy? (What is your suggestion). (ii) Should and Would are used as the past equivalents
Shall the gardener water the plants now? of shall and will.
Should is used as the past equivalents of shall. For example
For example I expected that I should get a prize.
I expected that I should get distinction. He said he would be twenty next year.
I said that I should meet him once. (iii) Should and Would are both used as auxiliary Verbs
Should is used in all persons to express duty or obli- to express the future in the past i.e, action which
gation. was at one time in the past regarded as being still
For example in the future.
We should obey the laws. For example
You should keep your vows. I said that I should meet him once.
Boys should obey their teachers. He said that he would manage them.
You should get up early. Must, Ought
Should is used to express a supposition that may not Must is used to express :
be true. (i) Necessity or Obligation.
For example For example
If it should rain, they will not visit. We must obey our parents.
If he should see me there, he will be pleased. One must do his duty.
Should is to be used in the first person with a Verb (ii) Fixed determination.
like : to like, to care, to be glad, to be pleased etc. For example
For example I must have my way in this matter.
I should like to read this poem. He must be fifty now.
I should feel to be pleased with his passing Ought is followed by an infinite and it expresses ;
in the examination. (i) Moral obligation, duty or desirability -
Should is also used in forming the Subjunctive Mood For example
and to form a Subjunctive equivalent. You ought to have come in time.
For example We ought to love our parents.
He ran lest he should be caught in rain. We ought to love him.
Will, Would You ought to know more about this matter.
Will is used in the second and third persons to expres (ii) Strong probability.
pure future. For example
For example Rakhee ought to win the game.
Tomorrow will be Sunday. The film ought to win a prize.
You will see that I am correct. Note : Ought was originally used in the Past tense,
Will is used to express volition. but it is now used only in the Present tense.
For example Need not, Dare not
I will (= am willing) to carry your luggage. Need is commonly used in negatives, which denote
I will (= promise to) try to do better the next necessity or obligation.
time. For example
Will is used to express characteristic habit. He need not go there. (It was not necessary
For example for him to go.)
He will talk about nothing but politics. I need not have bought it. (It was not neces-
She will sit for hours watching the television. sary for me to buy it, but I bought it.)
Will is used to express assumption or probability. Dare is generally used in negative sentences, meaning
For example be brave enough to.
This will be the magazine you want, I think. For example
That will be the milk-man, I think. He dare not take such a step?
Would is used to express the future in the past i.e., He dared not do it.
action which was at one time in the past regarded as be- Note : (i) If a Verb is used immediately after a Modal
ing still in the future. Auxiliary, that Verb must be always in the first form.
For example (ii) If infinitive is used after a Modal Auxiliary, that
He said that he would help us. infinitive must be a bare infinitive.
Would is used as Principal Verbs to express determi- Besides the modal auxiliaries, there are also some spe-
nation. cial Verbs or anomalous like :
For example Be Have Do Used
He would cry without any reason. Be used in the formation of the continuous tenses and
I would buy it thought it was costly. of the passive voice.
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