べし

Also written 可し

Meanings

1. Auxiliary must; should; ought to See also: べき.
2. Auxiliary adjective will (surely); be bound to; must
3. Auxiliary will (do); shall (indicates volition)

Example sentences

• ガラスの家に住む人は石を投げるべきではない。
  Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
• 結婚式ではあまりにたくさんのごちそうが出されたので、新郎新婦はもっと多くの人を呼ぶべきだったかなと思い始めた。
  Food and drink were served in such profusion at the wedding that the bride and groom began to wonder if they should not have invited more guests.
• そんな不当な提案は、拒否すべきだったのに。
  You should have refused such an unfair proposal.
• エンジニアが自問すべき7つの質問とは・・・誰が、何を、いつ、どこで、どうして、どのように、どのくらい。
  The seven questions that an engineer has to ask himself are: who, what, when, where, why, how and how much.
• やるべきことがたくさんあります。手伝ってほしいですか。
  There's quite a lot of things to do; do you want some help?

Common phrases

• 特筆すべき (とくひつすべき) worthy of special mention
• 注目すべき変異株 (ちゅうもくすべきへんいかぶ) variant of interest (of SARS-CoV-2)

Words containing べし

• 推して知るべし (おしてしるべし) can be easily guessed
• 以て瞑すべし (もってめいすべし) being so content that one would not mind dying
• 他山の石以て玉を攻むべし (たざんのいしもってたまをおさむべし) one should learn from other's mistakes

And 2 more.

Jinuma: Japanese Dictionary · Word lists