Cambridge Grammar of English Hardback with cd-rom a comprehensive Guide

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539 Glossary for any unfamiliar terms

Modality | 653

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Thanking

Shouldn’t have

is used conventionally to express gratitude for gifts:

[email message after the receipt of a gift CD]

Thanks so much for the CD. You really 

shouldn’t have.

Conditional sentences

Should

occurs in hypothetical conditional clauses with if in formal contexts,

expressing tentative possibilities:

Some people carry a card which says that 

if they should be killed in an

accident, they are willing for their organs to be used for transplantation.

If you should need anything else, do just let me know.

Should

also occurs with subject-verb inversion as an alternative to if in more

formal contexts to refer to hypothetical situations:

[giving someone a mobile phone number]

I’ll be contactable on this number 

should you need me.

[referring to a request to Cambridge City Council for building planning

permission by the University of Cambridge]

Cambridge City Council has specified that it will not permit further

development of the teaching facilities without related student housing. 

Should

the Cromwell Road plan be rejected, the University fears that students may end

up living in unsuitable residences paying higher rents than students elsewhere. 

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399 Ought to and should