should
SHOULD
(A) Implying duty propriety etc. (1) debeo: oportet (oportet denoting objectively the moral claim that is made upon anybody; debeo subjectively the moral obligation that he is under). ☞ The perfect infinitive after “should” is usually translated by the present infinitive debuit facere = “he should have done it.” Let the pupil also observe that before the English perfect infinitive a past tense of debeo oportet should be used. (2) The gerundive or participle in -dus. “Friendship should be desired for its own sake ” amicitia propter se expetenda est. “Should” is translated in this way to denote general truths etc. (B) Should (as the past tense of shall) is often a future (being the form which the English future assumes after a past tense). He said that he should sail etc. dixit se navigaturum esse. (C) Should is often a conditional form to be translated by the present or imperfect subjunctive (the imperfect especially but not exclusively when it is implied that the condition is not realized; the present is by far the more common when this is not to be implied). It occurs both in the conditional and in the consequent clause: si Scipionis desiderio me moveri negem - mentiar (if I should deny etc. I should tell a lie): si forte quaereretur etc. putarem (if it should be inquired etc. I should think). (D) Sometimes “should” is used as a modest expression of what one does not really doubt; as I should think etc. putem; where for the present subjunctive the perfect is also used crediderim (I should imagine). Velim nolim malim are very common forms: E) Sometimes “should ” after “that ” has no potential future or conditional meaning and is translated by the present infinitive. It is strange that you should say so mirum est te haec dice re.
(A) Implying duty propriety etc. (1) debeo: oportet (oportet denoting objectively the moral claim that is made upon anybody; debeo subjectively the moral obligation that he is under). ☞ The perfect infinitive after “should” is usually translated by the present infinitive debuit facere = “he should have done it.” Let the pupil also observe that before the English perfect infinitive a past tense of debeo oportet should be used. (2) The gerundive or participle in -dus. “Friendship should be desired for its own sake ” amicitia propter se expetenda est. “Should” is translated in this way to denote general truths etc. (B) Should (as the past tense of shall) is often a future (being the form which the English future assumes after a past tense). He said that he should sail etc. dixit se navigaturum esse. (C) Should is often a conditional form to be translated by the present or imperfect subjunctive (the imperfect especially but not exclusively when it is implied that the condition is not realized; the present is by far the more common when this is not to be implied). It occurs both in the conditional and in the consequent clause: si Scipionis desiderio me moveri negem - mentiar (if I should deny etc. I should tell a lie): si forte quaereretur etc. putarem (if it should be inquired etc. I should think). (D) Sometimes “should” is used as a modest expression of what one does not really doubt; as I should think etc. putem; where for the present subjunctive the perfect is also used crediderim (I should imagine). Velim nolim malim are very common forms: E) Sometimes “should ” after “that ” has no potential future or conditional meaning and is translated by the present infinitive. It is strange that you should say so mirum est te haec dice re.
should:
I. As auxiliary verb in the conditional: expr. by subj. the pres. and perf. tenses of which are used of an hypothesis which is conceived as possible: if I s. deny, si negem; if I s. be disposed, si velim; if you s. be aware, si scieris, etc., L. G. § 426: and the imperf. and pluperf. of an hypothesis contrary to fact and therefore not conceived as now possible: I s. not say so did I not believe it, non ita dicerem nisi mihi persuasum esset: I s. not have said so unless ..., non ita dixissem nisi ... etc., L. G. § 427.
II. As a softened form to avoid too positive a statement: use pres. or perf. subj.: I s. think, censeam; I should be inclined to believe, crediderim, etc.: L. G. § 430.
III. As sign of future after past tenses; where in a direct statement the future indic. would be found: e. g. he said he s. sail to-morrow (direct statement, I shall sail to-morrow), dixit se cras navigaturum: what do you suppose I should have done? quid me facturum fuisse arbitraris? L. G. § 507.
IV. As denoting obligation:
1. expr. by fut. imperat.: this you s. do ... this you s. shun, hoc facito, hoc fugito, Ter. Ad. 3, 3, 63: you s. beware of such, hunc tu caveto, Hor. 1, 4, 85: all commands s. be just, imperia justa sunto, Lex in Cic. Leg. 3, 3, init.
2. expr. by gerundive; used personally in the case of trans. verbs and impersonally in the case of other verbs, pass.: L. G. §§ 535, 536.
I. As auxiliary verb in the conditional: expr. by subj. the pres. and perf. tenses of which are used of an hypothesis which is conceived as possible: if I s. deny, si negem; if I s. be disposed, si velim; if you s. be aware, si scieris, etc., L. G. § 426: and the imperf. and pluperf. of an hypothesis contrary to fact and therefore not conceived as now possible: I s. not say so did I not believe it, non ita dicerem nisi mihi persuasum esset: I s. not have said so unless ..., non ita dixissem nisi ... etc., L. G. § 427.
II. As a softened form to avoid too positive a statement: use pres. or perf. subj.: I s. think, censeam; I should be inclined to believe, crediderim, etc.: L. G. § 430.
III. As sign of future after past tenses; where in a direct statement the future indic. would be found: e. g. he said he s. sail to-morrow (direct statement, I shall sail to-morrow), dixit se cras navigaturum: what do you suppose I should have done? quid me facturum fuisse arbitraris? L. G. § 507.
IV. As denoting obligation:
1. expr. by fut. imperat.: this you s. do ... this you s. shun, hoc facito, hoc fugito, Ter. Ad. 3, 3, 63: you s. beware of such, hunc tu caveto, Hor. 1, 4, 85: all commands s. be just, imperia justa sunto, Lex in Cic. Leg. 3, 3, init.
2. expr. by gerundive; used personally in the case of trans. verbs and impersonally in the case of other verbs, pass.: L. G. §§ 535, 536.