must vs. should

dorris26

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Jun 18, 2008, 2:18:37 PM6/18/08

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hello all,
please tell me what's the difference in usage of these two verbs:
"must" and "should". which way is more convenient?
- "he must do smth" / "it must to be done" / "i must do smth" or
- "he should do smth" / "it should be done" / "i should do smth" etc.

thanks,
Alexey

dorris26

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Jun 17, 2008, 11:31:53 AM6/17/08

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hi all,

please tell me what's the difference in usage of these two verbs:
"must" and "should". which way is more convenient?
- "he must do smth" / "it must to be done" / "i must do smth"

- "he should do smth" / "it should be done" / "i should do smth"

thanks,
Alexey

Einde O'Callaghan

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Jun 19, 2008, 3:23:33 AM6/19/08

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dorris26 wrote:
> hello all,
> please tell me what's the difference in usage of these two verbs:
> "must" and "should". which way is more convenient?
> - "he must do smth" / "it must to be done" / "i must do smth" or

A strong obligation or a necessity

> - "he should do smth" / "it should be done" / "i should do smth" etc.
>

A weak obligation or a recommendation

Regards, Einde O'Callaghan

dorris26

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Jun 19, 2008, 2:07:17 PM6/19/08

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thank you for your explanations, Einde. the point is when i learned
englisn in school (it was more than 20 years ego) teachers taught us
to use "must". but now, when i speak english at work, everybody use
only "should". what's this? maybe an echo of political correctness? or
smth else?

one more question, is it widespread to say smth like "he tolds me"
instead of "he told me"?

regards,
AN

Molly Mockford

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Jun 19, 2008, 2:49:29 PM6/19/08

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At 22:07:17 on Thu, 19 Jun 2008, dorris26
<dorr...@algo-sync.letters.org> wrote in
<qg7l54hu2i9n2v9vl...@4ax.com>:

>one more question, is it widespread to say smth like "he tolds me"
>instead of "he told me"?

No. To say that would be not only absolutely wrong, but also totally
illogical (trying to combine past tense with present tense!). I have
never in my life heard anybody say that, and never expect to.
--
Molly Mockford
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety - Benjamin Franklin
(My Reply-To address *is* valid, though may not remain so for ever.)

Einde O'Callaghan

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Jun 20, 2008, 7:27:21 AM6/20/08

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dorris26 wrote:
> On Thu, 19 Jun 2008 09:23:33 +0200, Einde O'Callaghan
> <einde.oc...@planet-interkom.de> wrote:
>
>> dorris26 wrote:
>>> hello all,
>>> please tell me what's the difference in usage of these two verbs:
>>> "must" and "should". which way is more convenient?
>>> - "he must do smth" / "it must to be done" / "i must do smth" or
>> A strong obligation or a necessity
>>
>>> - "he should do smth" / "it should be done" / "i should do smth" etc.
>>>
>> A weak obligation or a recommendation
>>
>> Regards, Einde O'Callaghan
>
> thank you for your explanations, Einde. the point is when i learned
> englisn in school (it was more than 20 years ego) teachers taught us
> to use "must". but now, when i speak english at work, everybody use
> only "should". what's this? maybe an echo of political correctness? or
> smth else?
>

I doubt it. They're giving advice, not orders.

> one more question, is it widespread to say smth like "he tolds me"
> instead of "he told me"?
>

No - not in standard English or in any dialect I know of.

Regards, Einde O'Callaghan

Marius...@gmail.com

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Jul 16, 2008, 8:33:58 PM7/16/08

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Try:

http://www.englishforums.com/English/GeneralEnglishGrammarQuestions/Forum12.htm

Molly Mockford

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Jul 16, 2008, 8:58:14 PM7/16/08

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At 17:33:58 on Wed, 16 Jul 2008, Marius...@gmail.com wrote in
<0f9f1a14-3498-43a3...@2g2000hsn.googlegroups.com>:

>Try:
>http://www.englishforums.com/English/GeneralEnglishGrammarQuestions/Forum12.htm

I never saw the original post; however, MUST/SHOULD/MAY, in the context
of Usenet (which is where we all are, children), is very clearly defined
in <http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2119.txt>; RFC2119 / Bradner97.