Dictionary of English - should or would

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The main use of should is to mean 'ought to': You shouldn't speak like that to your mother. It is also used after if to express hypothetical situations: If it should rain, the performance will be indoors and after that in expressing suggestions, arrangements and necessities: I suggested that he should leave. See subjunctive.

Would is used in conditional sentences: If it weren't so expensive, I would buy it; in reporting the words of someone who has said will: She said she would let me know tomorrow; and to say what used to happen: Every evening he would go along to the pub.

Formerly, should replaced would after I and we in the first two of these three uses: If it weren't so expensive, I should buy it. In present-day English, however, this sounds rather old-fashioned, and it is preferable to use would. There are, though, certain expressions, such as I should think and I shouldn't wonder, in which it is still the norm to use should.

The bird of paradise represents liberty. The Southern Cross recalls the country's links with Australia. Effective date: 16 September 1975. >>