应该...不应该...
Reach for 应该 / 不应该 when you want to state norms, advice, or moral expectations — 'you should do this, you shouldn't do that.' It's how Chinese teachers, parents, and signs lay out rules and how friends give gentle counsel. Pair the two forms in one sentence to contrast what's right with what's wrong: 'you should rest, you shouldn't keep working.' Everyday register, common in advice columns, parenting talk, classroom Chinese, and any conversation about behavior.
Structure
Subject + 应该 + Verb Phrase, (Subject) + 不应该 + Verb Phrase
yīng gāi... bù yīng gāi...
How to Think About It
应该 is the 'should' auxiliary — it sits before the verb just like English 'should.' Pairing 应该 with 不应该 in one sentence is the standard Chinese way to draw a moral line: do this, not that. The negation always uses 不 (never 没), because you're talking about obligation, not past events. Think of it as a two-column list spoken out loud.
Examples
你应该多喝水，不应该喝那么多咖啡。
Nǐ yīng gāi duō hē shuǐ, bù yīng gāi hē nà me duō kā fēi.
You should drink more water and shouldn't drink so much coffee.
学生应该听老师的话，不应该上课玩手机。
Xué shēng yīng gāi tīng lǎo shī de huà, bù yīng gāi shàng kè wán shǒu jī.
Students should listen to the teacher and shouldn't play with their phones in class.
我们应该帮助朋友，不应该只想自己。
Wǒ men yīng gāi bāng zhù péng you, bù yīng gāi zhǐ xiǎng zì jǐ.
We should help our friends and not just think about ourselves.
Common Mistake
Learners say 没应该 for 'shouldn't,' copying 没 from past-tense negation. 应该 is an auxiliary verb and is negated only with 不应该. 没 negates completed actions; 不 negates wishes, habits, and obligations.
你没应该这样做。
你不应该这样做。
Don't Confuse With
必须...
必须 means 'must' — strong obligation, no choice. 应该 means 'should' — recommended, but you could choose not to. Use 应该 for advice, 必须 for rules with no flexibility.
得 (děi)...
得 also means 'have to' but is spoken and feels like personal necessity. 应该 is about what's right or expected; 得 is about what you need to do.
可以 / 不可以...
可以 / 不可以 is about permission ('may / may not'). 应该 / 不应该 is about what's appropriate or expected, regardless of whether it's allowed.
Practice
Fill in: 你____早点睡，____这么晚还看手机。
Show answer
应该；不应该
Fill in: 我们____对老人有礼貌。
Show answer
应该
Translate to Chinese: You should eat breakfast and shouldn't skip meals.
Show answer
你应该吃早饭，不应该不吃饭。
Use 应该 and 不应该 in one sentence to give advice to a friend.
Show answer
你应该多休息，不应该天天工作。
Hear It in Real Episodes
This pattern appears in 1 Fluentide episode:
Related Grammar Patterns
Acquire by listening
Hear 应该...不应该... in real Chinese, not in a textbook.
Fluentide picks the next news episode at your level, so this pattern shows up again and again in real context. The transcript marks it, the audio drills it. Free to start, no card.