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What is the difference between ”Shall I do” and ”Should I do”?

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Wishuda profile picture WishudaNovember 2018
"shall" is usually used for offers and suggestions with "I" or "we" when they are questions.
e.g. Shall I make you a cup of tea?
Shall we have a barbecue tomorrow?

"should" is used to give advice or an opinion.
e.g. You don't look very well. You should go to a doctor.

So personally I would use "Shall I .." when I want to offer something, and "Should I .." when I need advice if it's good to do it :-)

Hope that helps. But look at other comments from native speakers too :-)
Pajal7 profile picture Pajal7November 2018
Shall is a mostly archaic word that isn't very common these days (at least in North American English).

In most cases, shall is used for formal documents, religious texts.

For example, a business contract may state: "The payment shall be made by the 3rd of the month."

I've always understood it as an emphasized version of "will."
Most of the time, when I see "shall" used in American English, its to emphasize that something is not optional.

One of the Ten Commandments from the Christian Bible:

"Thou Shalt Not Kill" (Modernized = You shall not kill)

Most American English speakers won't use these correctly.

Technically, there is a difference in meaning and proper usage.

I'm not even fully familiar with the rules about when it should be used, so I'll direct you to this source, which can explain it much better than I can:

https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2013/09/25/will-versus-shall/
alecoiba profile picture alecoibaNovember 2018
In America we also say things like ¨Shall we?¨ (or the full sentence ¨Shall we go?¨), meaning let´s go.
vincent profile picture vincentNovember 2023
In the sentence ”Shall I do?”, the speaker is asking for permission or confirmation to do something. They are not sure whether or not they should do it, and they are looking for guidance from the listener.

In the sentence ”Should I do?”, the speaker is asking for advice. They are considering doing something, but they are not sure whether or not it is the best thing to do. They are looking for the listener’s opinion.
Mojo12345 profile picture Mojo12345March 2022
I like the other answers given so far, but I thought I’d add my thoughts on the difference between ”shall” and ”should” in terms of the implied conditional logic as well

As Pajal7 says, ”Shall” could be considered to express the same as ”Will”, which is to say that something ”will” happen, or to express a question asking if something ”will” definitely happen.
For instance:
”I shall go” and ”Shall I go?” both imply certainty that I ”will” go (or that I won’t, if the answer to my question is ”no”)

”Should” could be used more flexibly to ascertain whether something is the right or correct thing to do or to happen.
For instance:
”I should go” and ”Should I go?” does not imply necessarily that I ”will” go, only that it would be the right thing to do.

I think these differences contribute to the different ways in which native speakers might interpret the two structures:
In addition to the biblical and antiquated references using ”shall” in other answers, ”Shall I do ...” can feel more formal,
or more quaint, in some sense, than ”Should I do...” when used in a modern context. Eg: ”Shall I make you a cup of tea?” vs ”Should I make you a cup of tea?”

Practically speaking, ”Should” is much more versatile, and the way it’s used by native English speakers, in the UK at least, you could use ”should” in every situation I can think of that ”shall” could be used, and it will sound more natural, but not the other way around. For instance:
”You should make us some tea”
(presumptuous, but not too rude) vs ”You shall make us some tea” (quite rude, sounding a little like a royal decree)