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The 'Should' vs. 'Shall' Debate |
For VOA Learning English, this is Everyday Grammar.
Last week in Paris, leaders from 195 countries reached a
major global climate agreement. In the final hours of
meetings, one little word made the difference between
success and failure.
Near the end of the talks, a version of the agreement
contained the word shall instead of should.
These two words may seem similar, but pay close
attention to how they are used here in Article 4.4 of
the agreement:
“Developed country Parties shall continue taking the
lead by undertaking economy-wide absolute emission
reduction targets. Developing country Parties should
continue enhancing their mitigation efforts…”
In earlier versions of the agreement, the word shall in
the first sentence had been should.
U.S. government lawyers noticed the word change. Just
hours before a final vote on the climate deal, U.S.
Secretary of State John Kerry phoned the French foreign
minister.
“We cannot do this,” Kerry told him.
The change from should to shall introduced new legal and
financial requirements. These requirements concerned
Kerry and other U.S. leaders in Paris. The difference in
meaning between these two words almost caused the first
global climate agreement in 18 years to fail.
If these two words could almost ruin a major global
climate deal, we should probably take a closer look at
them here on Everyday Grammar.
This should help:
Both should and shall are auxiliary verbs. Auxiliary
verbs are followed by the simple form of a main verb.
For example, “He should go.” In this sentence, “go” is
the main verb.
The auxiliary verb should has many different meanings.
It is often used to express certainty or possibility.
For example, “They should be here soon.”
We also use should to give advice or an opinion. For
example, if a friend says she is always tired, you might
tell her, “You should get more sleep.”
Should can also express a goal or something that is not
required. Before the holidays, many Americans say, “I
should lose weight.” After the large holiday meal, we
say, “I should exercise more!”
Should also expresses the idea that something is
expected or correct. For example, “You should see the
train station after you exit the Metro.”
Let’s take another look at the Paris climate deal.
Article 4.4 stated: "Developing country Parties should
continue enhancing their mitigation efforts…”
In other words, the goal of developing countries is to
continue improving their efforts to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions.
The word should does not express a legal requirement.
But shall, in the case of the climate agreement, does.
Shall we continue?
We often use the auxiliary verb shall to indicate a
promise. Often, that promise is part of a legal
agreement.
Article 4.4 of the Paris climate deal stated that
developed countries “shall continue taking the lead by
undertaking economy-wide absolute emission reduction
targets.”
Replacing should with shall created stronger legal
requirements for developed countries than developing
countries. That is why the U.S. opposed the word change.
The U.S. argued that shall needed to be changed back to
should.
French leaders told Kerry that someone must have made a
typing mistake. Hours later, delegates from 195
countries agreed to the climate deal.
Kerry later said of the shall vs. should debate, “We
made it crystal clear that every text up until this
particular one had a different wording. So it wasn't
hard for them to realize that somebody had made a
mistake, and they accepted responsibility for it.”
The auxiliary shall does not always have such serious
effects. In the Everyday Grammar article, Six
Differences Between British and American English, we
learned that Brits sometimes use shall to express the
future. For example, “I shall see you tomorrow.” It is
similar to the verb will.
And American Army General Douglas MacArthur once
promised to return to the Philippines by famously
saying, “I shall return.”
In American English, we sometimes use shall in questions
to make an offer. Shall is a more polite choice than
should. For example, you might ask, “Shall I meet you
after work?”
But for Secretary Kerry, there was nothing polite about
the word shall in the Paris climate agreement.
That’s it for this week’s Everyday Grammar. We leave you
with the words of American folk singer Bob Dylan. You
should be able to hear the auxiliary shall in the song:
Any day now, any day now
I shall be released
For VOA Learning English, I’m Adam Brock.
And I’m Ashley Thompson.
Ashley Thompson wrote this story for VOA Learning
English. Jill Robbins and Kathleen Struck were the
editors. |
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