Should in Different Languages
Discover 'Should' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Should
Afrikaans moet | ||
Albanian duhet të | ||
Amharic ይገባል | ||
Arabic ينبغي | ||
Armenian պետք է | ||
Assamese should | ||
Aymara lurañapa | ||
Azerbaijani olmalıdır | ||
Bambara ka kan | ||
Basque beharko luke | ||
Belarusian павінна | ||
Bengali উচিত | ||
Bhojpuri चाहीं | ||
Bosnian treba | ||
Bulgarian трябва | ||
Catalan hauria | ||
Cebuano kinahanglan | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 应该 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 應該 | ||
Corsican duverebbe | ||
Croatian treba | ||
Czech by měl | ||
Danish skulle gerne | ||
Dhivehi ޖެހޭނީ | ||
Dogri चाहिदा | ||
Dutch zou moeten | ||
English should | ||
Esperanto devus | ||
Estonian peaks | ||
Ewe ele be | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) dapat | ||
Finnish pitäisi | ||
French devrait | ||
Frisian soene | ||
Galician debería | ||
Georgian უნდა | ||
German sollte | ||
Greek πρέπει | ||
Guarani va'erã | ||
Gujarati જોઈએ | ||
Haitian Creole ta dwe | ||
Hausa ya kamata | ||
Hawaiian pono | ||
Hebrew צריך | ||
Hindi चाहिए | ||
Hmong yuav tsum | ||
Hungarian kellene | ||
Icelandic ætti | ||
Igbo kwesịrị | ||
Ilocano kasapulan | ||
Indonesian sebaiknya | ||
Irish chóir | ||
Italian dovrebbero | ||
Japanese すべき | ||
Javanese kudune | ||
Kannada ಮಾಡಬೇಕು | ||
Kazakh керек | ||
Khmer គួរ | ||
Kinyarwanda igomba | ||
Konkani आसूंक जाय | ||
Korean 할까요 | ||
Krio fɔ | ||
Kurdish divêt | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) پێویستە | ||
Kyrgyz керек | ||
Lao ຄວນ | ||
Latin nequaquam ut | ||
Latvian vajadzētu | ||
Lingala esengeli | ||
Lithuanian turėtų | ||
Luganda -teekwa | ||
Luxembourgish soll | ||
Macedonian треба | ||
Maithili चाहिए | ||
Malagasy tokony | ||
Malay semestinya | ||
Malayalam ചെയ്യണം | ||
Maltese għandu | ||
Maori kia | ||
Marathi पाहिजे | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯇꯧꯒꯗꯕꯅꯤ꯫ | ||
Mizo tur | ||
Mongolian ёстой | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) သင့်တယ် | ||
Nepali हुनु पर्छ | ||
Norwegian bør | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) ayenera | ||
Odia (Oriya) କରିବା ଉଚିତ | ||
Oromo ta'uu qaba | ||
Pashto باید | ||
Persian باید | ||
Polish powinien | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) devemos | ||
Punjabi ਚਾਹੀਦਾ ਹੈ | ||
Quechua kanan tiyan | ||
Romanian ar trebui să | ||
Russian должен | ||
Samoan tatau | ||
Sanskrit स्यात् | ||
Scots Gaelic bu chòir | ||
Sepedi swanetše | ||
Serbian требало би | ||
Sesotho lokela | ||
Shona ndinofanira | ||
Sindhi گهرجي | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) කළ යුතුයි | ||
Slovak by mal | ||
Slovenian bi morali | ||
Somali waa in | ||
Spanish debería | ||
Sundanese kuduna | ||
Swahili inapaswa | ||
Swedish skall | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) dapat | ||
Tajik бояд | ||
Tamil வேண்டும் | ||
Tatar тиеш | ||
Telugu ఉండాలి | ||
Thai ควร | ||
Tigrinya ይሓይሽ | ||
Tsonga fanele | ||
Turkish meli | ||
Turkmen etmeli | ||
Twi (Akan) ɛwɔ sɛ | ||
Ukrainian повинен | ||
Urdu چاہئے | ||
Uyghur لازىم | ||
Uzbek kerak | ||
Vietnamese nên | ||
Welsh dylai | ||
Xhosa kufanele | ||
Yiddish זאָל | ||
Yoruba yẹ | ||
Zulu kufanele |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The word "moet" in Afrikaans, meaning "should", derives from the Dutch "moet" and ultimately the Proto-Germanic word "*motaz", cognate with English "must." |
| Albanian | The Albanian word "duhet të" also means "needs to" or "is supposed to". |
| Amharic | The word "ይገባል" (yegabal) can also mean "can" and "is possible." |
| Arabic | The word "ينبغي" (should) in Arabic derives from the root "ن-ب-غ" meaning "to grow" or "to be high" and carries connotations of appropriateness, necessity, and obligation. |
| Azerbaijani | In Turkish, "olmalıdır" also means "is required" or "must be done." |
| Basque | The Basque word "beharko luke" literally means "it would be necessary," but it is used to express an obligation or necessity. |
| Belarusian | The word "павінна" also means "must" or "have to" in Belarusian. |
| Bengali | উচিত (উচ্ছিত), উচচ, উদচ্য, উদগ, উদার উদারতার বিভিন্ন রূপ। |
| Bosnian | The word "treba" in Bosnian ultimately derives from a Proto-Slavic verb meaning "need". |
| Bulgarian | In addition to its meaning of "must" or "should," "трябва" can also mean "to need" or "to be necessary." |
| Catalan | The Catalan word "hauria" comes from the Latin verb "habere" (to have) and originally meant "to be fit or suitable". |
| Cebuano | The word 'kinahanglan' is derived from the root word 'kinahang,' which means 'to need' or 'to want'. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 该 in 应该 can be used as an adjective meaning 'this' or 'the one', or as a pronoun meaning 'it' or 'the one' |
| Chinese (Traditional) | The word 應該 (yīnggāi) is also used to express obligation or expectation, and can be translated as "must" or "ought to" in English. |
| Corsican | The word "duverebbe" is derived from the Latin word "debere," which also means "to have to," and is the source of the French word "devoir," which also means "to have to." |
| Croatian | The verb "treba" in Croatian can also mean "to be necessary" or "it is required". |
| Czech | The word "by měl" ("should") comes from the Proto-Slavic word "*byti", meaning "to be". |
| Danish | Danish "skulle gerne" originally meant "be supposed to" but in modern Danish has come to primarily mean "should". |
| Dutch | In the 19th century, "zou moeten" was also used as an alternative phrasing for "zou kunnen" ("could"). |
| Esperanto | "Devo" is also the first-person singular present tense of the verb "devi" (to owe). |
| Estonian | The word "peaks" in Estonian also means "points" or "tops". |
| Finnish | The word "pitäisi" is derived from the Proto-Uralic word *pita-, meaning "to hold" or "to keep". |
| French | The French word “devrait” can also refer to “being forced to” or “having the right to.” |
| Frisian | In the Saterland dialect, "soene" means "to see" instead of "should." |
| Galician | “Debería” se utilizaba principalmente en el pasado para la segunda persona del singular del pretérito imperfecto del modo indicativo del verbo “deber”. |
| Georgian | The word "უნდა" can also mean "must", "have to", or "need" in Georgian. |
| German | "Sollte" can also be used to express a hypothetical situation, such as "Wenn es regnen sollte, nehmen Sie einen Regenschirm mit." |
| Greek | "Πρέπει" comes from the verb "πρέπειν" meaning to "be fitting" or "appropriate". The form used to express obligation in modern Greek is the ancient participle neuter plural form. |
| Gujarati | "જોઈએ" can also mean "be necessary" or "require". |
| Haitian Creole | 'Ta dwe' is a contraction of the French phrase 'tu dois', which literally means 'you must'. |
| Hausa | The word "ya kamata" in Hausa also means "it is necessary". |
| Hawaiian | In Hawaiian, "pono" also implies righteousness, correctness, and balance. |
| Hebrew | The Hebrew word 'צריך' can also mean 'need' or 'be necessary', implying an element of necessity or requirement. |
| Hindi | The word "chahiye" is derived from the Sanskrit word "iccha" meaning "desire" or "wish." |
| Hmong | The Hmong modal verb "yuav tsum" has alternate meanings of "must" and "have to". |
| Hungarian | The noun usage of "kellene" means "need" or "want" and it is a homonym of the infinitive of the verb "kell" ("have/must"). |
| Icelandic | "Ætti" also means "grandfather" and "clan" |
| Igbo | The word "kwesịrị" can also mean "it is necessary" or "it is appropriate." |
| Indonesian | 'Sebaiknya' literally means 'better', but is idiomatically used as an adverb to express advice or obligation. |
| Irish | In Old Irish, "chóir" also referred to a bond of kinship and legal responsibility. |
| Italian | "Dovrebbero" derives from the Latin "debere," which can also mean "to owe" or "to be obliged". |
| Japanese | The word "すべき" (should) in Japanese derives from the verb "す" (to do), indicating an obligation or a task that needs to be completed. |
| Javanese | The word "kudune" derives from the Sanskrit "kudhi" and can also mean "must". |
| Kannada | In the Kannada language, the word "ಮಾಡಬೇಕು" can also mean "must" or "have to". |
| Kazakh | The Kazakh word “керек” (“should”) originates from the word “кереу” (“be required”), which is derived from the Proto-Turkic word *ker-, meaning “need”. |
| Khmer | The Khmer word គួរ "should" is also used in the sense of "deserving" or "fit". |
| Korean | In addition to its meaning of "should," "할까요" can also mean "do you want to do this with me?" or "how about doing this?" |
| Kurdish | Despite its primary meaning of "should," "divêt" can also serve as a conjunction denoting "if." |
| Kyrgyz | The Kyrgyz word "керек" can also mean "need" or "necessity". |
| Lao | The Lao word "ຄວນ" also means "to be appropriate" or "to be necessary". |
| Latin | The term "nequaquam ut" can also mean "by no means" in Latin, denoting a strong negation. |
| Latvian | The verb "vajadzētu" is derived from the noun "vajadzība" (need) and the reflexive particle "-ties". |
| Lithuanian | "Turėtų" is also one of the two Lithuanian conditional tense auxiliaries (the other being "būtų") used to form sentences such as "Jei būčiau žinojęs, taip nebūčiau pasakęs". |
| Luxembourgish | The Luxembourgish word "soll" can also mean "sun" and "sole", derived from Proto-Germanic roots. |
| Macedonian | In Old Church Slavonic, "треба" meant "need" and was cognate with the Russian word "надо". In Macedonian, it came to be used in a more general sense, encompassing obligation and necessity. |
| Malagasy | The Malagasy word "tokony" originally meant "it is necessary" and is derived from the Proto-Austronesian word "tuqun." |
| Malay | Although the word "semestinya" directly translates to "should," it shares a root with and is often used synonymously with "mesti" (must). |
| Malayalam | The Malayalam word "ചെയ്യണം" has an alternative meaning of "must" or "have to." |
| Maltese | 'Għandu' can also mean 'has to' or 'is supposed to' in some contexts. |
| Maori | The word "kia" can also mean "in order to" or "so that" depending on the context. |
| Marathi | The word "पाहिजे" also has the potential meanings of "there is a need for" or "it is necessary for" in Marathi. |
| Mongolian | The word "ёстой" in Mongolian can alternatively mean to "fit". |
| Nepali | 'हुनु पर्छ' is the passive form of 'हुनुपर्छ' ('must') and is used formally to indicate obligation or necessity. |
| Norwegian | The word "bør" in Norwegian is also used to express obligation or necessity, and carries a stronger sense of urgency than the word "skal". |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The word "ayenera" can also mean "it is possible" or "it is necessary". |
| Pashto | In Pashto, “باید” (“should”) originates from the Old Persian term “bai” meaning “duty” and is cognate to the Proto-Indo-European root “bhē-,” indicating a sense of “duty” or “necessity.” |
| Persian | باید (bāyad) is originally an infinitive form of the verb داشتن (dāshtan) meaning "to have", but has come to be used as a modal auxiliary verb indicating necessity or obligation. |
| Polish | In older Polish, "powinien" meant "bound to" or "owing something to someone". |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | The Portuguese word "devemos" is cognate with the Spanish word "debemos", both derived from the Latin verb "debēre". In English, the verb "owe" is cognate with the Portuguese and Spanish words. |
| Romanian | In Romanian, "ar trebui să" literally translates to "it ought to be that," suggesting necessity rather than obligation. |
| Russian | The Russian term должен ("should") also shares roots with the word долг ("debt"), reflecting the sense of obligation embedded in its meaning. |
| Samoan | The word "tatau" also means "to be able to do something" or "to be capable of doing something" in Samoan. |
| Scots Gaelic | Bu chòir derives from the verbs bui "to be" and cheart "to be right". |
| Serbian | In some Serbian dialects, "требало би" can also mean "to intend to do something" or "to be necessary." |
| Sesotho | Lokela is a contraction of the phrase 'ho lokela' which means 'to be fitting or appropriate'. |
| Shona | Ndino refers to "be"; fanira to "appropriate," thus ndinofanira translates to "this is how it should be." |
| Sindhi | گهرجي (should) derives from the Sanskrit word "kṛ- |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | The word "කළ යුතුයි" can also mean "is supposed to" or "is required to" depending on the context. |
| Slovak | The word "by mal" in Slovak is derived from the Old Slavic word "byti", meaning "to be". |
| Slovenian | Bi morali can also mean to have to in some contexts |
| Somali | Waa in, often interpreted as the conditional "should", also carries the connotation of "it is appropriate" when referencing the weather or time. |
| Spanish | The word "debería" can also mean "to owe" or "to need to do something." |
| Sundanese | The imperative form of the verb 'kudu' (to must) is 'kuduna', which can also be used to indicate necessity or obligation. |
| Swahili | In Swahili, "inapaswa" is a passive form of "-paswa" meaning "to be forced, obliged, or necessary". |
| Swedish | The word "skall" in Swedish is cognate with "skal" in Norwegian, Danish, and "shall" in English, ultimately derived from Proto-Germanic "skal". |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | "Dapat" in Tagalog also means "must" or "to deserve" and comes from the Sanskrit word "yuj" meaning "to join" or "to be connected to". |
| Tajik | The word "бояд" comes from the Persian word "باید" (bāyad), which means "it is necessary" or "it is obligatory."} |
| Tamil | The word "வேண்டும்" (vēṇṭum) also means "to be necessary" and "to be required" in Tamil. |
| Telugu | The word "ఉండాలి" ("should") in Telugu is derived from the verb "ఉండు" ("to be"), indicating necessity or obligation. |
| Thai | "ควร" has a similar double role in Thai, where it means both "should" and "worthwhile," which is why "ควรค่า" ("khur-khăa") means "worthiness." |
| Turkish | The Turkish word "meli" is cognate with the Arabic word "wajib", which also means "should". |
| Ukrainian | In Ukrainian, the word "повинен" (povinen) can also refer to "being obligated or duty-bound". |
| Urdu | The word "چاہئے" can also mean "to want" or "to need". |
| Uzbek | The word "kerak" is derived from the Proto-Turkic word "kerek" meaning "necessary", and can also mean "need" or "requirement" in Uzbek. |
| Vietnamese | In Sino-Vietnamese, "nên" also means to dye, to paint, or to paste. |
| Welsh | The word "dylai" in Welsh also means "ought" or "must". |
| Xhosa | Kufanele is also used in the sense of "to be adequate or sufficient"} |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word "זאָל" ("zol") derives from the Middle High German word "sol" and cognate to the English word "shall". |
| Yoruba | Yoruba yẹ derives from Èyí yẹ́ which means "this is good" or "this is what should be done" |
| Zulu | Kufanele also means 'to be worthy' and 'to deserve' in Zulu. |
| English | The word "should" derives from the Old English word "sceoldan," which means "to be obliged or compelled." |