Saturday 20 June 2015

grammar - Is "should" an imperative verb?

In formal grammar, the use of "should" is incompatible with the imperative mood in English. The imperative mood is generally very obvious (at least in second-person constructions) because of a missing subject.




Go to the store.
Pick up your clothes.




The conjugation of imperative verbs in English is independent of quantity (we use the infinitive form of the verb), so it can be difficult to determine who are the subjects of the command. Sometimes the subject is explicitly mentioned (referred to as a direct address, and is used in any type of sentence). The subject is still "technically" missing from the imperative sentence.




Kids, come home by five to get ready for supper.
Mom, stop pestering us.




"Should" is just one of many helping (auxiliary) verbs. They are not able to be used with infinitives or imperative mood infinitive-form verbs.




Go to the store.
You should go to the store.
You will go to the store.




The second sentence is a suggestion and the third is definitely commanding, but neither is in the imperative mood.

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