A fine stroke... his lad should
“His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke to him that his lad should step into the whole property.”
Sherlock Holmes Illustrated and CompleteDoyle, Arthur Conan
Context: “He” wanted his son to marry the speaker’s daughter so that the son could have a share of the speaker’s property.
Hi. How should I understand the bold “should” here? I only know it’s old-fashioned.
Thank you.Top answer
If you ask a dozen different people you will probably get a dozen different answers, plus some blank expressions and/or head-scratching! q=should_1 : used after "that" and adjectives or nouns that show an opinion or feeling: It's odd that she should think I would want to see her again. It's so unfair that she should have died so young.
- If you ask a dozen different people you will probably get a dozen different answers, plus some blank expressions and/or head-scratching!
- q=should_1 : used after "that" and adjectives or nouns that show an opinion or feeling: It's odd that she should think I would want to see her again.
- It's so unfair that she should have died so young.
- zuotengdazuo I only know it’s old-fashioned.
- It doesn't sound old-fashioned to me (BrE).
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If you ask a dozen different people you will probably get a dozen different answers, plus some blank expressions and/or head-scratching! I propose that it is this sense at https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/should?q=should_1
0zuotengdazuoHow should I understand the bold “should” here?
Palmer calls it "evaluative should". It's equivalent to the use of the present subjunctive in many of the languages heard on the European continent. I believe I've seen language guidebooks label this English version "the periphrastic subjunctive" and say that it's used when the speaker exp
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