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[vargtimmen.livejournal.com]

What is the difference between должно, нужно, and надо? It appears to me that должно is "should", and that нужно and надо are synonyms for "must". What are the nuances of their meaning?

Comments

[serpent-849.livejournal.com]

There's a really small difference between them. Нужно is slightly less strong, to me the other two has a stronger meaning of duty. But there's no significant difference, so don't hesitate to use any of these :)
although the word должно is rarely used in such form, but я должен/должна is used about as much as надо and нужнo, perhaps slightly less often. It has the strongest meaning of obligation (either moral or just because it's your job or whatever) of these.

[ars-longa.livejournal.com]

Нужно is rather 'it has to be done', and надо is 'it must be done'. Something like that. Должно - should, correct.

[apollotiger.livejournal.com]

There’s also the difference in grammatical usage: «мне надо/нужно» but «я должен», generally, I think …

[ex-oru427.livejournal.com]

должен - must (should)
надо, нужно - need

[la-dy-ashley.livejournal.com]

You can come across "Должно" in old literature, I mean XIX century classics, it's old use and means "may be", like in "Он, должно, уехал уже".
If you wanna use it in this sense, you've got to say "должно быть", stressing the last "o". It sounds formal, though.

I personally don't see any difference btw надо and нужно. Both can be "need" or "should".

"Я должен это сделать" is by no means "I should do it". It's rather "I have to/ought to/must do it."

If you need to translate "should" you'd better put it like "Мне следовало бы + infinitive", "Я должен БЫ ..."

[freiburg234.livejournal.com]

должно - Also has the connotation of "need to or must", as in "I need to/must do this today, otherwise there will be hell to pay."

нужно - Can refer to something "I require or want", e.g. "Пакет нужен?" - "Do you need/want a bag?" asked by the clerk at the check out counter. "Да, нужен." - Yes, I need one.

надо - Can refer to some externally imposed necessity or circumstance. For example, "Завтра надо рано встать." - I have to get up early tomorrow. The boss told to come in early. I have a report get out.

[zhp.livejournal.com]

Some words about должно. In the form дОлжен/должнА/должнО/должнЫ it denotes obligation. If it is used in the form должно быть, it can denote supposition (Он, должно быть, уже уехал - He must have left already). And also there is the archaic form дОлжно, with the stress on the first syllable. It is an impersonal form meaning "it is necessary, advisable" and it is indeed closest in the meaning to "should": Гоголя должно считать отцом русской прозаической литературы (Н. Чернышевский) - "Gogol should be considered the father of the Russian prosaic literature.") This form is very seldom used in modern Russsian