We commonly encounter situations when there are a number of options and we
would like to ask for instructions as to which option to choose. Here is a
real example from my recent experience. I was trying to fill in a form but was
not sure what to write in a box. I then asked

> この欄に、携帯番号を記入しますか？それとも、空白にしますか？

In English, the direct translation would be

> In this box, will I write my mobile number? Or, will I leave it blank?

But what I really wanted ask was

> In this box, **should** I write my mobile number? Or, **should** I leave it
> blank?

In situations like the above, what sentence pattern in Japanese should I use?

Perhaps _sentence patterns_ are not exactly the right thing to ask for. I
think I might be digging into _modality_ here, and would be grateful if
someone could elaborate on this.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-12-27T16:53:15.433
97822
2022-12-27T19:11:58.267
54841
question
grammar modality
Sentence pattern for asking "should I do A or B?"
verb(plain form) + ”べき”

In your example, ”この欄に携帯番号を記入するべきですか？それとも、空白にするべきですか？”.

Example 記入する + べき = 記入するべき(I should write) 食べる + べき = 食べるべき(I should eat)
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-12-27T19:11:58.267
97825
2022-12-27T19:11:58.267
55322
97822
answer