Is "повинен" "should" or "has to"? How do you make the should/must distinction in Ukrainian? Or do you just not?

Question

I'm trying to figure out how to mark the difference between "should" and "must" in Ukrainian, and it's turning out really confusing. Google-translate translates "I should cook" as "Я повинен готувати" but then if I swap the languages it translates "Я повинен готувати" back into English as "I have to cook" rather than "I should cook", so clearly "повинен" is not making the distinction I'm looking for; my dictionary also says "should" is "повинен/повинні" but then says "повинен" is "must, have to".

So, how do you say "I should do X" in Ukrainian in a way that is distinct from "I have to do X"? Or is there just not really a distinction between these meanings, or does it depend on something about the context/form/etc?

Answer 1

On the “I must cook ↔ I should cook” gauge, я повинен готувати IMHO is really closer to I must cook than to I should cook. It's literal translation is “I owe to cook” (“I'm obligated to cook”).

As a side note, the following also exist:

• я мушу готувати — literally “I must cook”;
• я маю готувати — literally “I have to cook”;
• мені треба/потрібно готувати — literally “I need to cook”
  • мені необхідно готувати — de facto the same thing (the original meaning was kinda “I inevitably need to cook”, but the word необхідно lost a large part of its strength during time);
• мені належить готувати — the same as я повинен готувати.

In practice, these words are taken literally not always; sometimes one says something like “I must cook” while actually meaning something like “I should cook” and is perfectly understood, and vise versa. That's why (IMHO) Google Translate collected not the closest-matching translations here. But if the obligation/optionality ratio matters, one can say:

• мені слід готувати — probably, the most literal English match here would be “I am supposed to cook”, but, still, the obligation/optionality range that dictionaries state for слід is wider than one for to be supposed;

  or — with even more optionality —

• мені варто готувати — literally “it's worth if I cook” (“it makes sense if I cook”, “it would be beneficial if I cook”).

Answer 2

^{Not an answer, just thoughts and comparing words in historical or semantic way}

• Must → мусити — cognates because of loanword from German, the same roles¹.
• Have to → маю — literal translation, the same roles.
• Need → нужда-ти(ся) — cognates, almost the same roles. But нужда has rare usage, потреба is often used here.
• Thair → треба — cognates, almost the same roles. In this case thair has rare usage, need is often used here.
• Shall → повинний — the same meanings if we look old semantic of shall ← *skel- which means to be obligated, owe, to be guilty. The same roles.
• Slide → слід — cognates, not the same meanings.
• Worth → варто — cognates, because of loanword from German, not the same roles but amost the same meanings. Вертіти is more true cognate but no the same meanings.
• To lie on → належати — cognates, have the same meaning in some cases but not here.

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1. I get those roles from here:

   Use must for:

   • Obligations you feel strongly about: I must remember to send him a birthday card.
   • Obligations in formal, written English: All employees must wash hands.
   • Strong advice: You must read it—it’s an amazing story!
   • Saying something is forbidden, if you use mustn’t: Children must not be left unattended.

   Remember that mustn’t or must not are more formal, and in spoken English it’s more common to say can’t.

   You use have to for:

   • Obligations which depend on rules or circumstances: I have to wear glasses because I can’t see so clearly.
   • Most obligations in spoken English: Do you have to work tomorrow?
   • Saying something is not necessary: You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.
   • Strong advice: You have to try this ice cream!

   Using have to for strong advice sounds more conversational than using must.

   You can use should for:

   • Giving advice: You should try once more—I’m sure you can get it.
   • Giving negative advice: You shouldn’t work so hard. Take a break sometimes!
   • Giving your opinion: If they make us work overtime, they should pay us for it.