earth@work wrote:Hi
i have a little confusion with should/ would :
Should: used to express obligation; condition (if sentence) and expectation
Would: used to express usual action, hypothetical condition & preference
Now the sentence,
1) If i win the lottery, i should give atleast 10% to charity (conditional-if)
2) She would do if she could (cond- if)
Why can't we have could in sentence 1.

Any further help on Should & would be great help especially the way it is used in GMAT.

IMO

sentence 1 and 2 both are wrong ...

Both should read as

1) If i win the lottery, i will give atleast 10% to charity (conditional-if)
2) She would do if she past tense (cond- if)

I doubt we can use will in 1 sentence, as it is conditional sentence/ not sure of the outcome. Will is used when we are sure of the outcome. Since would & should both include conditional sentence in their definition then why can't we use would in 1 sentence.
i have picked these sentences from a site which explains the difference between would/ should with these examples!
ref site: (https://garbl.home.comcast.net/~garbl/st ... htm#should)

need some help on this!

nice question...

i think .. if its a conditional statement ..its always "would"...Should proposes surety which doesnt go with the conditional statement...


so the first sentence should have "would"..


Now to your second question..

Why cant we use "could"..

IMO.."could" is in itself a conditional word...and the first sentence already starts with "if"..So cant use both in a single sentence...

i hope this helps..

There was an error in my first post ... i infact meant why can't we write "would" in 1st sentence but by mistake wrote "could" ... have corrected it now!

raunekk: i was thinking exactly what u have explained but reading too much into -would & should has confused me!

Maybe some expert help on GMAT's def for this would help.......like Stuart's clarification on "which" & "that" usage, it's become a mantra for me

IMO should and would implies different meaning...
I remember reading that should is used in case of moral obligations -
I should workout everyday , I should go to church etc


they both make sense to me in the first sentence but the meaning of the sentence is different

earth@work wrote:I doubt we can use will in 1 sentence, as it is conditional sentence/ not sure of the outcome. Will is used when we are sure of the outcome. Since would & should both include conditional sentence in their definition then why can't we use would in 1 sentence.
i have picked these sentences from a site which explains the difference between would/ should with these examples!
ref site: (https://garbl.home.comcast.net/~garbl/st ... htm#should)

need some help on this!

Source

MSC_2003_ed

Please let me know your thoughts !

thanks piyush, now i have "will" also to worry about along with" would" & " should" ! I read that " will" is only used when we are certain about outcome. Infact, the example u have given is exactly similar to the " should" 1st sentence. I guess, "will" "should" "would" all can fit in conditional sentences.... and most probably GMAT will not give them in answer choices together. Hopefully!

If anyone could give any further clarification on how to differentiate between "will","would" &"should" use in conditional (if) sentence!

gmat never make us choose between "should" and "would". so forget it