Grammar · 语法 yǔfǎ

应该

yīnggāi

The modal verb for "should": both the soft obligation of advice and the confident inference of "should be," how to negate each sense, and where it sits in the scale of necessity from gentle 应该 up to compelling 必须.

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字源 zìyuán Etymology & Structure

字源洞见 zìyuán dòngjiàn · Etymological Insight

应 yīng (here in first tone) means "ought to, should," from a root sense of "to answer, to respond, to correspond to" (the same character read yìng means "to respond"): what one ought to do is what correctly answers the situation. 该 gāi on its own also means "ought to, should" and "to be one's turn." Doubling two near-synonyms, 应该 is the stable, emphatic modal for "should, ought to."

Both halves live independently. 该 alone is common in speech for "should" and "whose turn": 该你了 ("it's your turn"), 该走了 ("time to go"). 应 carries "respond / ought" into 应当 yīngdāng (a more formal "ought to"), 答应 dāying (to agree, to promise), 反应 fǎnyìng (a reaction). The pairing 应该 is the everyday choice.

应该 yīnggāi The Modal

应该 yīnggāi should; ought to; should be (likely)

Modal 能愿动词 néngyuàn dòngcí

A modal verb placed before the main verb. Two senses run through it: obligation or advice ("you should do X"), and confident inference ("X should be the case"). It is softer than 得 or 必须, so it suits advice you offer and guesses you are fairly sure of. It can also stand alone as agreement: 应该的 ("it's only right, you're welcome").

你应该多休息。

Nǐ yīnggāi duō xiūxi.

You should rest more.

他应该已经到家了。

Tā yīnggāi yǐjīng dào jiā le.

He should be home by now.

「谢谢你！」「应该的。」

"Xièxie nǐ!" "Yīnggāi de."

"Thank you!" "It's only right (you're welcome)."

用法 yòngfǎ Patterns — Obligation, Inference, Negation

应该 in use · the core patterns Subject + 应该 + Verb , 你应该去 · you should go
不应该 + Verb , 不应该这样 · shouldn't be like this (ought not)
应该不 + Verb , 应该不会 · probably won't (inference negated)
应该 + 已经 / 快 …了 , 应该快到了 · should be arriving soon
应该 + 吧 / 应该是 , 应该是吧 · should be, I think (softened guess)

不应该 bù yīnggāi should not; ought not to

Negates the obligation: putting 不 before 应该 says something ought not to be done: 你不应该对她说谎 ("you shouldn't lie to her"). Often it voices regret about the past, "should not have": 我不应该那样说 ("I shouldn't have said that"). Do not confuse with 应该不, where 不 falls after and negates a guessed event instead.

这种话不应该说。

Zhè zhǒng huà bù yīnggāi shuō.

This sort of thing shouldn't be said.

应该不 / 应该没 yīnggāi bù / yīnggāi méi probably won't; probably hasn't

The inference sense, negated. Here 应该 keeps its "I'm fairly sure" meaning and the 不 / 没 negates the guessed event: 他应该不知道 ("he probably doesn't know"), 应该没问题 ("there should be no problem"). The contrast with 不应该 is sharp: 不应该来 ("ought not to come") versus 应该不来 ("probably won't come").

明天应该不会下雨。

Míngtiān yīnggāi bú huì xià yǔ.

It probably won't rain tomorrow.

辨析 biànxī Should, Have To, Must

辨析 biànxī · Distinguishing the Words

Chinese has a ladder of necessity modals, and 应该 sits near the gentle end. 应该 yīnggāi is "should, ought to," advice or mild duty that can be declined without breaking a rule: 你应该早点睡 ("you should sleep earlier"). 要 yào, beyond "want," also carries a "should / need to" of expectation: 你要小心 ("you need to be careful"). 得 děi (note this reading, not dé) is the strong colloquial "have to / must," a practical necessity: 我得走了 ("I have to go now"); it is rarely negated directly (use 不用 "need not" instead).

必须 bìxū is the firmest, "must, are required to," often a rule or a hard requirement: 乘客必须系安全带 ("passengers must wear seatbelts"); its negative is 不必 or 无需 ("need not"). So the force climbs: 应该 (you ought to) → 要 (you need to) → 得 (you have to) → 必须 (you must). Match the modal to how much room you mean to leave.

成语 chéngyǔ Set Phrases

理所当然 lǐ suǒ dāng rán as it should be by reason; a matter of course Literally "what reason makes ought-to-be-so," something so right and natural that it needs no defense. 当然 ("of course") and 应当 ("ought to") share the 当 of fitting necessity. Sometimes used critically, of someone who takes a kindness as 理所当然 ("for granted").

天经地义 tiān jīng dì yì absolutely right and proper Literally "the constant of heaven, the duty of earth," a principle so fundamental it is beyond question, exactly what ought to be. The strongest way to say something is unarguably as it should be, a cosmic-scale version of 应该.

责无旁贷 zé wú páng dài a duty one cannot shirk Literally "the responsibility cannot be passed to another," a duty that falls squarely on you and that you ought to shoulder. Used when one accepts an obligation as rightfully one's own, the firm sense of "should" hardened into "must."